The top reported proficiency rate is 58% in Social studies. The lowest is 26% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Southport Middle School
Southport Middle School serves seventh and eighth graders within Perry Township Schools on the south side of Indianapolis. It is a regular public school with an enrollment that places it among the larger middle schools in the county for its grade band. The student body reflects the area’s diversity: White and Asian students each make up roughly a third of the population, Hispanic students account for about a quarter, Black students about an eighth, and smaller shares of multiracial and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students are present. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker that suggests the school serves many families with lower household incomes.
On the state’s ILEARN assessments, administered to all students in grades three through eight, just over a quarter of Southport’s students scored at the proficient level or above in math, and just under a third did so in English language arts. Those are modest figures in absolute terms. However, when placed alongside every other school district within Marion County, Southport’s overall proficiency—a combined index across subjects and grades—sits in the top quartile. This means that low overall proficiency is widespread across the county, and Southport is performing better than the typical district school in the same urban environment. A parent looking at the raw scores may want to discuss with the school what specific supports are available for students who are not yet meeting the state bar, but the comparison suggests the school is holding its ground in a challenging context. Social studies data is older and comes from a different state test, so it offers little current guidance.
Perry Township Schools, the district that operates Southport, has recently made structural changes that directly affect which school a child attends. The district reorganized its elementary system into a series of early childhood academies, kindergarten academies, and sixth grade academies before students reach Southport for seventh and eighth grades. Families who live east of US-31 are assigned to the Southport feeder path; those west of US-31 go to the Perry Meridian path. That boundary is permanent and shapes the composition of Southport’s student body. The district also secured a federal Teacher and School Leader grant, which supports efforts to recruit and retain effective teachers. That grant is ongoing and touches every school in the district, so it likely influences the quality of instruction a middle schooler will encounter.
Housing in the zip code served by Southport is moderately priced relative to national benchmarks. The typical home value is lower than the state average, and rents are a relatively small share of a typical household income for the area. This combination of affordability and a school that performs above the county median in proficiency may appeal to families who are weighing options within Marion County but are not able to pay for higher-cost neighborhoods.
Missing from the available data are several factors a parent might want to investigate directly. There is no reported information on chronic absenteeism, disciplinary rates, or staffing ratios. The share of students with disabilities or English learner status is also absent from the profile. These gaps do not reflect poorly on the school; they simply mean the data was not captured in the sources used here. A family considering Southport would be wise to ask the school office about class sizes, support for students who are behind grade level, and the extent of advanced coursework options at the middle school level, since those topics are not covered in the snapshot.
Southport Middle School is a large, diverse public school serving a lower-income population in a district that has deliberately organized its feeder system. Its academic results are modest but comparatively strong within a large urban county, and a federal grant aimed at teacher development may be a positive signal for classroom quality. The housing market in the area is accessible, and the district’s clear attendance boundaries mean a family knows their path from the start.
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