By Andy Klotz, APR—
MUNCIE, IN—Longfellow Elementary School Principal Gerry Moore has a saying. It’s even painted on the school walls: “Excellence is the expectation… with no excuses!”
That motto may have something to do with the school’s most recent Indiana Reading Evaluation and Determination (IREAD) assessment. Forty-one of Longfellow’s 49 third grade students demonstrated proficient reading skills on the most recent assessment. That’s an 83.7% passing rate, which is an impressive 15.8% improvement over the school’s 67.9% rate from a year ago.
“This is exciting!” Moore said. “This is my eleventh year at Longfellow, and we’ve been working hard to get our students and families to understand that success is a choice. They are choosing to do what’s required to become great readers, and it’s very exciting to see these results. Of course, this isn’t possible without our incredible teachers and staff, so they deserve a ton of credit.”
Longfellow’s dramatic reading proficiency increase helped Muncie Community Schools’ passing rate jump to 86.0% overall. That’s nearly 7% higher than last year’s passing rate of 79.2%, and a remarkable 16.2% better than where it was in 2024.
“It just goes to show what can happen when people buy into a plan, and then work together to execute it,” MCS Director of Public Education and CEO Dr. Chuck Reynolds said. “Longfellow has done a tremendous job, but so have teachers and administrators at all our schools. Since our partnership began with Ball State in 2018, we’ve never had all six of our elementary schools score above 80%, so this is a tremendous accomplishment, and we plan to keep climbing higher.”
Last year, Grissom Elementary School was recognized by the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) for improving its scores by a phenomenal 33%. This year, Grissom improved another 10% and is now the highest performing elementary school in the district with an 89.7% passing rate.
“Our teachers and aides and tutors continue to put in the time and effort to make sure our youngest students are reading, which is the foundation for all learning,” Grissom Principal Brittney Charles said. “We’ve done a lot to incentivize our kiddos to read, and our parents have been a tremendous support. We can’t reach this level without everyone on board.”
While Grissom had the highest passing rate in the district, the others were not far behind. Here is the district breakdown:
- Grissom – 89.7%
- South View – 87.8%
- West View – 86.7%
- East Washington Academy – 84.3%
- North View – 84.1%
- Longfellow – 83.7%
Not only is MCS’ 86% proficiency a 16% improvement since 2024, but it’s a 21% jump from 2022 when students struggled mightily following the COVID-19 pandemic. Indiana Secretary of Education Dr. Katie Jenner recently reported that all state schools are doing better (88.7% passing statewide), and that the IDOE’s support to schools is sustainable.
“After historic gains last year, seeing these results increase again for the fifth consecutive year is truly remarkable,” Dr. Jenner said. “Our educators, parents and students should be extremely proud of the results they’ve accomplished together. We’re thinking very intentionally about how we deploy supports… ensuring every student has strong literacy skills that set them up for future success.”
Part of this success is attributable to Lilly Endowment, Inc., and the creation of the Indiana Literacy Cadre in August, 2022, as well as the state’s mandate to use curriculum aligned with the science of reading. Muncie Community Schools also receives extensive community support from partners like Heart of Indiana United Way, Kiwanis Club of Muncie and many others, all of which are part of the Cradle to Career Muncie initiative spearheaded by the George and Frances Ball Foundation.
For more information about Indiana’s IREAD results, please visit www.in.gov/doe/it/data-center-and-reports/.
About Muncie Community Schools
Serving the local community since 1855, Muncie Community Schools (MCS) educates more than 5,000 students at six elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school while also managing several other educational facilities. Through its unique partnership with Ball State University, MCS strives to maximize each student’s potential so he or she can be a positive, productive member of society.
