The top reported proficiency rate is 26% in Social studies. The lowest is 8% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Maple Crest Middle School
Maple Crest Middle School is one of the regular public middle schools within the Kokomo School Corporation, serving grades six through eight. The school sits on the south side of Kokomo, a mid-sized industrial city in north-central Indiana that serves as the Howard County seat. The district brief notes that no recent major parent-relevant changes, such as referendums or curriculum overhauls, were identified, meaning families looking at Maple Crest are evaluating a system that has been operating without a recent high-profile disruption or reinvestment that would materially shift the experience.
The student body is a mix that reflects the working-class and middle-class character of Kokomo itself. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which signals that many families are managing tight budgets. Racially, the school is majority white, with a notable Black cohort and a smaller Hispanic presence. Roughly one in seven students identifies as two or more races. The grade-level enrollment is balanced, with each of the three middle-school grades similarly sized. This is a school where a single cohort moves through together, so the peer environment a sixth-grader enters will largely be the same group a few years later.
The most consequential information for a parent considering Maple Crest is the state testing picture. On the Indiana ILEARN assessments, the school’s proficiency rates across tested subjects place it in the bottom quartile among districts in Howard County. In English language arts, about one in five students scored proficient or above. In math, the rate was lower, and in science, the share of students reaching proficiency was very small. These are plainly weak outcomes by any conventional measure. The state’s latest social studies data is older and from a different test, so it does not offer a current read. The school participated in testing at a high rate, so these results are not an artifact of low turnout; they represent the actual attainment of the enrolled students. A parent would want to understand what kind of academic support the school provides for students who are below grade level, and what the school’s own strategies are for lifting these numbers.
Because this is a middle school that feeds into a high school, there is no graduation rate to report here, and the school’s disciplinary and staffing data were not available in the set we examined. That is an information gap a parent may want to close by asking the school or district directly about school climate, teacher retention, and how the school handles behavior.
On the community side, Kokomo’s largest employers are in manufacturing, health care, and retail, with the automotive industry playing a dominant role. The city has seen modest population growth in recent years and a slow increase in home values. Housing in the area is considerably more affordable than national medians, which is a practical consideration for a family choosing where to live while their child attends Maple Crest. Kokomo is an auto-oriented city with an incomplete sidewalk network, so getting to and from school will likely involve a car or a bus for most families.
For a family weighing options, Maple Crest’s profile is straightforward. It serves a high-poverty student population in a stable industrial city, and its academic results on state tests are well below the county average. The strength of the school for a given child would depend heavily on the specific classroom and teacher, the availability of interventions, and the family’s willingness to be hands-on in supplementing academic work outside of school. The district did not supply recent data on advanced coursework, gifted programs, or enrichment opportunities at the middle-school level, so those are open questions a prospective parent should ask directly.
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