Top high schools around Indy (Indianapolis, Carmel: cliquey, 2015, transfer)

[Nerdy2015]

Dear Friends and forum members,

My hubby has a potential job offer from Indiana University Medical Center, and we are seriously considering to relocate from Seattle to Indy. We are Asian Indians and have a 8th grader, who is studying in a top notched and nationally ranked (among top 30 nationwide) charter school on the east side of Seattle. Education and intellectual development for our son is one of the top priority for us.

We have gone through the list of top rated schools based on US news ranking, which includes following schools in the Indy area:

1. Herron High School, INDIANAPOLIS, IN 46202
2. Zionsville Community High School, ZIONSVILLE, IN 46077
3. Carmel High School, CARMEL, IN 46032

Herron, has a lottery based admission system, whereas Zionsville and Carmel high have open admission policy for all residents. However, Carmel has approx. 10% asian population, while Zionsville has 3%.
Carmel high have approx. 5000 students and Zionsville has 1800.

Given all these information, we have following questions:

1. We feel that Carmel area will suit us better. However, in that situation we are concerned about the size of this school. It has 5000 students, does it affect quality of education and personal attention given to students? Any personal experiences? How is the cultural, diversity and racial environment in this school? Any bullying and drug issues?

2. Zionsville high is ranked much higher and number of students are also reasonable. But we are not sure about cultural, diversity and racial environment in this school and community. Any inputs? Any bullying and drug issues?

3. Herron High School can be actually best option for us because it has highest rank in that area and limited number of students. However, the admission is lottery based. Not sure, how tough is to enter in this school? Any idea or suggestion?

Any other information and suggestions given our situation will be highly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Regards,

Nerdy 2015

[Toxic Toast]

I have friends that send their kids to Herron, and they speak very highly of it. If you can get in, it is worth it. They are planning to open a second location to meet the demand, not that it will be open in time to help you. You don't have to live in Indianapolis to send your kid to Herron, why not just choose to reside in Carmel or Zionsville and apply anyway. That way if Herron doesn't work out, you can fall back on the other.

[ischyros]

I agree with TT. Herron is great if you can get into it. I do not have personal experience with any high schools in Indy. Zionsville, from people I know with kids there, is a tough school but also why it's one of the best. Carmel is also ranked very highly. It does have a lot of students but I think that would mostly affect if your kids wanted to try out for sports. Carmel wins state championships in a lot of sports for a reason. They're able to put up a team with the best players available. Many say that's why Carmel continues to refuse to build a second high school. Academically, though, Carmel is one of the best in the state.

Carmel definitely has the higher Indian population between it and Zionsville, many of them I think in a similar situation to you, coming here because of the medical profession. Still, Zionsville is a small town but it's not in the middle of nowhere. It's still right on the edge of Indianapolis and right on the edge of Carmel. My hope would be, with Zionsvilles academic prowess, that the kids there are smart enough and worldly enough to not have a problem with another culture.

[Nerdy2015]

Thank you for your prompt response TT and Ischyros.
If you are in my situation, how you will rank these three schools, given our unique situation into account?

[John7777]

There are also some private schools in the area Park Tudor and Brebeuf Prep come to mind.

[ischyros]

Originally Posted by John7777

There are also some private schools in the area Park Tudor and Brebeuf Prep come to mind.

This is true, too. University High School in Carmel is also a small private school (though just high school grades). It's a college prep high school. It has about 300 students in four grades and 100% get accepted into college. Basically you don't go there unless you plan to go to college. I honestly am not sure of the diversity, though.

Of the three schools you listed and your situation, I would probably rank them Herron, Carmel, Zionsville.

[Knox Harrington]

I suggest you also consider Park Tudor.

[Nerdy2015]

Thank you ischyros, KH, and John7777; your inputs are very helpful.
I just explored parktudor, and it appears very encouraging overall. I did not know about this school before. Overall academically challenging, low teacher to student ratio, diverse and higher SAT/ACT scores. Can be a great option.

Thank you again.

[msamhunter]

Originally Posted by Nerdy2015

Dear Friends and forum members,

My hubby has a potential job offer from Indiana University Medical Center, and we are seriously considering to relocate from Seattle to Indy. We are Asian Indians and have a 8th grader, who is studying in a top notched and nationally ranked (among top 30 nationwide) charter school on the east side of Seattle. Education and intellectual development for our son is one of the top priority for us.

We have gone through the list of top rated schools based on US news ranking, which includes following schools in the Indy area:

1. Herron High School, INDIANAPOLIS, IN 46202
2. Zionsville Community High School, ZIONSVILLE, IN 46077
3. Carmel High School, CARMEL, IN 46032

Herron, has a lottery based admission system, whereas Zionsville and Carmel high have open admission policy for all residents. However, Carmel has approx. 10% asian population, while Zionsville has 3%.
Carmel high have approx. 5000 students and Zionsville has 1800.

Given all these information, we have following questions:

1. We feel that Carmel area will suit us better. However, in that situation we are concerned about the size of this school. It has 5000 students, does it affect quality of education and personal attention given to students? Any personal experiences? How is the cultural, diversity and racial environment in this school? Any bullying and drug issues?

2. Zionsville high is ranked much higher and number of students are also reasonable. But we are not sure about cultural, diversity and racial environment in this school and community. Any inputs? Any bullying and drug issues?

3. Herron High School can be actually best option for us because it has highest rank in that area and limited number of students. However, the admission is lottery based. Not sure, how tough is to enter in this school? Any idea or suggestion?

Any other information and suggestions given our situation will be highly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Regards,

Nerdy 2015

If you want to go by ranking regardless of public or private, it is
1: international school
2: herron
3: Carmel

There is a buried post in here with central Indiana school rankings. But check out the admission requirements for international. It is slightly north Marion county but easy access from anywhere you prefer to live.

Keep in mind and I am assuming you are a library buff, nothing compares to central library outside maybe iu in the state. The entire 2nd floor is for kids/teenagers sans the atrium and your child would love it. While anyone can visit central only Marion county residents can check anything out.

[wh15395]

So maybe I'm wrong since nobody mentioned anything, but I always thought Park Tudor was ranked higher academically than Herron, International School, or University High School. Maybe that's just based on perception and cost?

As far as schools go, Carmel is great. I am mixed race and transferred there halfway through high school. I was surprised by the diversity and felt completely included in that regard. It was also an easy place to make friends. Given that I never had moved away from my hometown and had no experience making all new friends, I think that says a lot about the atmosphere of the school.

Part of what makes Carmel such a great school is the size of it. No matter what Carmel's reputation is in the metro area, the high school is diverse. It may not be as diverse as a school like North Central on a percentage basis, but the sheer number of students makes it so no one feels like they stick out. The high number of students also forces people to make new friends. On the first day of each class, the new student isn't the only person with no friends in that class. This is unique in Indiana since most high school children are extremely cliquey.

As far as drugs go, that's an issue in all of the Northern suburbs depending on how you look at it. A lot/most of the kids smoked marijuana (pretty sure that's everywhere in the U.S.), but Carmel definitely has more drugs like cocaine because the kids can afford it. I don't think there are a ton of junkies or anything like that, but those types of drugs are at a lot of parties. Zionsville seemed to have more of a problem with cocaine when I was in high school, probably because kids there are even wealthier.