Timothy L Johnson Academy

Timothy L Johnson Academy is the sole public charter elementary school serving the Fort Wayne, Indiana area. With a diverse student population and a focus on serving a predominantly low-income community, the school has struggled to meet academic standards, ranking in the bottom 3% of Indiana elementary schools over the past three years.

The school's performance on standardized tests, such as ILEARN, is significantly below the state averages across all grade levels and subject areas. For example, in the 2023-2024 school year, only 10.71% of students were proficient or better in English Language Arts, compared to the state average of 38.6% for 3rd grade, 41.8% for 4th grade, and 40.3% for 5th grade. The math proficiency rates are also very low, ranging from 4.92% to 17.24% across the grade levels, compared to the state averages of 52.4%, 48%, and 40.8% for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades, respectively. Additionally, the school has a high chronic absenteeism rate of 36.4%, which is a concerning indicator of student engagement and attendance issues.

Despite the school's challenges, it serves a diverse student population, with a majority of Asian students (64.43%), followed by African American (26.03%), Hispanic (5.67%), and students of two or more races (3.09%). The school's per-student spending for the 2021-2022 school year was $10,680, which is slightly higher than the state average, but the school's student-teacher ratio of 20.4 is relatively high, suggesting that the school may be underfunded or struggling to attract and retain qualified teachers. Addressing the school's academic and attendance issues will likely require a comprehensive, multi-faceted approach involving the school, district, and community stakeholders.