The top reported proficiency rate is 71% in Math. The lowest is 54% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Hershey Elementary School
Hershey Elementary School is a regular public school in the Tippecanoe School Corporation, serving kindergarten through fifth grade. The school is located on the eastern edge of Lafayette, in Tippecanoe County, a mid-sized city that is the county seat and sits across the Wabash River from West Lafayette and Purdue University. Lafayette has a mixed industrial and commercial character, with major employers including Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Caterpillar, Wabash National, and GE Aviation, and it has been on a growth trajectory with downtown development projects and industrial investment. The city promotes a walkable downtown with a historic courthouse square, a trails system, and civic anchors like Columbian Park and Loeb Stadium.
The school serves an enrollment that is predominantly white, with a relatively small share of students from other racial and ethnic backgrounds. A modest share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The grade-by-grade enrollment is fairly balanced through kindergarten through fifth grade, with one grade showing a noticeably larger class size than the others. Data on the share of students with an Individualized Education Program or who are English learners was not available.
On the Indiana ILEARN state assessments, Hershey’s students posted proficiency rates that placed the school in the top quartile overall among districts in Tippecanoe County. This means that, across the tested subjects and grades, the school’s average performance was among the higher ones in the county. In math, a solid majority of students scored at or above the proficient level. In English language arts, the proficiency rate was also solidly above the midpoint. In science, the rate was similar to math, with a strong share of students meeting the standard. Social studies, tested only in fifth grade, showed a majority of students proficient, though the rate was somewhat lower than the other subjects. Participation rates on the tests were very high, which supports the reliability of the results.
Because Hershey is an elementary school, there is no graduation rate to report. Chronic absenteeism data was also not available. The school is a regular public school and is not a charter or magnet school. Information about Title I status was not reported. No program offerings, such as specific arts, STEM, or language pathways, were included in the data, so it is not possible to describe what enrichment or specialized options exist beyond the core academic curriculum.
The district brief for Tippecanoe School Corporation did not surface any recent major changes like a referendum, curriculum overhaul, or property tax shift that would affect a parent’s decision, so the district context appears stable in the near term.
This is a school with a strong academic profile relative to its county peers, serving a predominantly white student body in a mid-sized city that combines industrial employment with a growing downtown and ties to Purdue University. The housing market in the area has been strong, with home values and rents somewhat above the state median and climbing, reflecting broader growth pressures in the region. A family considering this school should feel confident about the core academic outcomes based on the available state testing data. The main gaps in information are the lack of data on special education and English learner populations, and the absence of detail on any special programs or enrichment offerings, which a parent may want to follow up on with the school directly. The community itself offers a mix of historic downtown amenities, industrial employment, and ongoing development, which may suit families looking for a city with a stable economic base and a growing sense of momentum.
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