Crown Point Community School Corporation elementary students continue to demonstrate strong reading achievement, with 95.9% of third-grade students passing the 2026 IREAD assessment. CPCSC ranked first among the 16 traditional public school districts in Lake County for third-grade IREAD performance.

Crown Point also stood out among Indiana’s larger school districts. Of the 31 districts statewide with 600 or more third-grade students, CPCSC ranked third in Indiana. All seven CPCSC elementary schools exceeded the statewide proficiency rate of 88.7%, with individual school results ranging from 91.7% to 97.9%.

“What I am especially proud of, not just the overall success of our third graders, but really across all of our subgroups that we look at, from socioeconomic status to multilingual learners, students with IEPs, different racial and ethnic groups, our students performed very well compared to districts of similar size and demographics,” said Dr. Nick Ciochina, CPCSC Director of Elementary Education. “And I think that tells an important part of the story.”

CPCSC students outperformed statewide results across every reportable student group, including students receiving special education services, multilingual learners, and students receiving free or reduced-price meals.

Exceptional Education students receiving special services also ranked among the strongest-performing comparable groups in Indiana. Among the 39 Indiana school districts with 100 or more third-grade students with IEPs taking IREAD, CPCSC ranked fifth.

“I’m so proud of our staff for working so hard with our students,” said Heather Paskis, CPCSC Director of Exceptional Education. “I also have to credit our general education teachers who have included our students and given them the same rigor and exposure as our general education students. This is a huge accomplishment.”

CPCSC’s second-grade students also demonstrated significant early success on IREAD. More than 81% passed the third-grade assessment while still in second grade. Students who pass IREAD in second grade contribute to their cohort’s reported pass rate the following year.

Ciochina credited the results to work extending well beyond a single grade level or school year, including classroom instruction, intervention and individualized student support. He also recognized CPCSC teachers, interventionists, support staff, administrators, and families.

“This is years of strong classroom instruction and intervention,” Ciochina said. “A collective accomplishment and something our whole district should be really proud of.”