The top reported proficiency rate is 27% in Math. The lowest is 6% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Warren Elementary School
Warren Elementary School is a regular public school in South Bend, Indiana, serving children from prekindergarten through fifth grade. It is part of the South Bend Community School Corporation, a district that has opened a full-time virtual option for grades 4 through 12, giving families an alternative learning pathway within the same system.
The school enrolls a moderate number of students for an elementary school, and its student body is racially and ethnically diverse. A majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a community with substantial economic need. The composition is mixed: White students make up the largest share, followed by Hispanic students and Black students, with smaller shares of students identifying as two or more races and Asian students. This diversity shapes the peer environment, and a parent considering the school may want to learn more about how the school fosters inclusion and supports students from different backgrounds.
Academic performance, as measured by the state ILEARN assessments, is low relative to other districts in St. Joseph County. Across tested subjects and grades, the school’s overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile among county districts. In math, about a quarter of students scored proficient or above, a share similar to English language arts, where roughly one in five students reached that threshold. Science proficiency was about the same, while social studies results, which come from a single grade level, showed a very small share of students meeting the standard. These figures represent a single year’s snapshot, and a parent may want to ask the school about academic interventions, progress over time, and how instruction is being tailored to raise achievement.
Because the school serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate, and state testing data for subjects like science and social studies apply only to the grades that take those tests. The data also do not include information on chronic absenteeism, staffing ratios, program offerings such as art or music, or special education and English learner enrollment rates. Those gaps leave many questions unanswered about student support, enrichment, and the overall learning environment.
Warren Elementary sits within South Bend, a mid-sized city that blends residential neighborhoods, a riverfront downtown, and the presence of the University of Notre Dame just north of the city center. The local economy includes manufacturing and distribution sectors near the airport, and median household income in the city is below national medians, with a poverty rate above the national average. The housing market in the school’s zip code reflects a relatively affordable cost of living: home values are well below the national median, and rents are moderate. The population has plateaued in recent years after modest earlier growth.
For a family looking at Warren Elementary, the main considerations are the school’s economic context, the diversity of its student population, and the clear need for academic improvement that the state test results indicate. The district’s new virtual school offers another option within the same system, but the school itself does not publicly report details on specialized programs or instructional supports. Those would be reasonable topics to raise directly with the school before making a decision.
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