School Analysis Project

The school that I have chosen for this project is Harrison Hill Elementary School in

Indianapolis, IN. I chose this school because it is from any school I have been to. The type of

school that Harrison Hill is a performing arts school. They provide students with a variety of

educational experiences that will impact their learning. Their mission is to meet the needs of

each child and celebrate their unique qualities and characteristics.

About the School

We can investigate the school and see what makes it what it is. The grade levels that

Harrison Hill goes to is 1st to 6th grade. There is a total of about 700 enrolled at the school. There

is 49% of females and 51% of males at the school. There is an 89.4% of a minority enrollment.

Within that it is 10.6% white, 43.2% black or African American, 39.2% Hispanic/Latino, 6.8% two

or more races, and 0.3% Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander.

Students in grades five and six can choose an area of focus in related arts. The families

that are encouraged to help their student find their area of focus. The areas of focus that you

can pick would be band, orchestra, Media/Broadcasting, Visual Arts, Dance & Drama, or

Music/Choir. I think this is a good opportunity for children to start young and it gives them an

opportunity to get their brains off the regular schoolwork, but it will also develop something in

them that can become more in their future you never know. The MSD of Lawrence Township

which is the school district that Harrison Hill Elementary is in requires kindergarten -2 nd grade to

participate in a universal screener that checks the children’s different skill areas. They check

things like phonological and phonemic awareness, alphabet knowledge, sound symbol

relationships, decoding, rapid naming, and encoding. This is how they identify if struggling
readers show risk factors for dyslexia. They have assisted students with receiving the

individualized services they need to be successful in the school. They also promote that the

students with disabilities are in environments that give them access to general education

instruction.

Harrison Hill provides before and after care. The before and after care is for grades (1-6).

The things included in the care include movement, mentoring, learning clubs, and snacks. There

are fees to the before and after care program. The Registration fee is $25.00/Family. The before

school fee is $245/child/week which is from (6:30-7:30). The after-school fee is $65/child/week-

$50/ week each and that is from (2:30-6:00). For an additional child the before and after school

program is $70/child/week - $55/week each. Seeing these registrations fees kind of confuse me

because before fees are cheaper than after school which I guess makes sense because it is a

longer time, and more time means more money but what I can’t wrap my head around is that

an additional child is more. Why can’t it be the same price? I do see that they accept CCDF for

families in need, but it still doesn’t make sense to me that you pay the same amount for an

additional child.

This school does offer free/reduced lunch. There is 79.8% of the students that receive

free/reduced lunch. Out of the 1,124 schools in Indiana, Harrison Hill is the 20 th ranked in the

total students on lunch assistance. Families with an income of 130% 185% of the federal poverty

level are eligible for reduced price meals. Families with an income below 130% of the federal

poverty level are eligible for free meals. Me personally I was of my districts because within my

years of school I was in two districts and with both districts I qualified for free/reduced lunch.

It’s good that this school has a good percentage of it and students can get their proper nutrition.
 The MSD of Lawrence Township is having to maintain a $13 million in cash reserves in

their Education Fund. The district is positioned for growth and investments in students,

employees, facilities, and infrastructure. The teachers make around $142,259.00 a year. They

are paid this amount on a biweekly basis under their contract. Based off the information I read

different teachers are paid differently and the of days they work plays a part of it.

About the Community

Harrison Hill Elementary School is in Lawrence, IN. There is a total of 53.2% of

Black/African American, 26.6% White, 13.8% Hispanic, 3.6% 2+ races, 1.2% Asian, 0.4%

American Indian, and 1.2% other. This tells us that the community is diverse and showing that

the black race takes up a little more than half of the community. The estimated median of a

house/condo is $120,075 in 2021. The type of businesses that in Lawrence, Indiana that are by

Harrison Hill are a Dairy Queen. There’s a golf resort that is followed by a state park and it is also

by a hotel. There’s a soccer complex. There’s also a trail. There’s also a Christian church close by.

It looks like the elementary, middle school, and high school are close to each other.

Looking at the map there some restaurants like El Sabor Catracho, Jockamo Upper Crust

Pizza, and some other chain restaurants. They also have a Goodwill, Menards, and things like

that within the community. Some of the nonprofit businesses within the community just to

name a few are the International Women’s Empowerment Network (IWEN), Emerging Pearls

Foundation, Village of Merici, and so many more. Looking at these nonprofit businesses within

their community just shows that they are a true community for anyone.

The school board members consist of Wendy Muston as the President. Amy Norman as

the Vice President. Crystal Puckett is the Secretary. Jessica Dunn and Marta Lawrence are
members. Dr. Shawn Smith is the Superintendent of schools. Looking into their backgrounds

they all do different things within the community. Most of them have children who are in the

district or were and are committed to making their district better for the children and their

families. They display their board meeting times on their website. Overall this was interesting

taking a look at how other schools work and how their district works.
 Citations

“Harrison Hill Elementary School.” Indiana Graduates Prepared to Succeed (GPS),

indianagps.doe.in.gov/Summary/School/4151. Accessed 14 Nov. 2023.

“Board.” Metropolitan SD of Lawrence Township, www.ltschools.org/board. Accessed 14 Nov.

2023.

“46226 Zip Code (Indianapolis, IN) Detailed Profile.” 46226 Zip Code (Indianapolis, Indiana)
Profile - Homes, Apartments, Schools, Population, Income, Averages, Housing,
Demographics, Location, Statistics, Sex Offenders, Residents and Real Estate Info,
www.city-data.com/zips/46226.html. Accessed 14 Nov. 2023.

“Free Ebooks & Guides for Schools: Finalsite Learning Center.” Powered by Finalsite Opens in
a New Window, www.finalsite.com/resources. Accessed 14 Nov. 2023.

“Home.” Harrison Hill Elementary School, harrisonhill.ltschools.org/. Accessed 14 Nov. 2023.