Best Public Schools in Carmel, IN

The city of Carmel, Indiana is home to a high-performing school district, the Carmel Clay Schools, which operates 17 schools serving students from elementary through high school. This district is ranked 7th out of 381 districts in Indiana and is rated 5 stars out of 5 by SchoolDigger, indicating exceptional educational quality across the board.

Several schools within the Carmel Clay district stand out as exceptional performers. Carmel High School is consistently ranked among the top high schools in Indiana, with a 98.4% four-year graduation rate and strong test scores. Creekside Middle School is the top-ranked middle school in the state, boasting exceptional test scores in English Language Arts and Math. At the elementary level, College Wood Elementary and West Clay Elementary are both ranked among the top 5 elementary schools in Indiana, with outstanding test scores and 5-star ratings from SchoolDigger.

While the Carmel Clay Schools district as a whole is high-performing, there is some variation in student outcomes across the schools. Some schools, like Carmel Elementary and Forest Dale Elementary, have higher rates of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch and lower test scores compared to the top-performing schools. The district may need to examine ways to ensure more equitable outcomes across all its schools. Additionally, the charter schools in the area, Indiana Agriculture and Technology and Options Westfield, perform significantly lower than the traditional public schools in the Carmel Clay district, highlighting the importance of close monitoring and oversight of charter school performance.