Northcrest Elementary School

Fort Wayne Community Schools, 5301 Archwood Lane, Fort Wayne; prekindergarten through fifth grade; the Knights, in red and white; built in 1956 and named for the part of the city it serves

The Name: Northcrest Elementary School is named for the geographic area where the school is located, and the school was built in 1956. So the school's own history page says. A compiled list of Fort Wayne school openings gives the school's start as 1957 instead. This page follows the school's own account for its date and prints the disagreement rather than hide it: between the district's history page and the compiled list, the building's first year sits one year uncertain, and the honest entry is both numbers with their sources named.

The Building: The building stands at 5301 Archwood Lane, in the Northcrest area of the city's north side. No source consulted names its architect or its first principal. In September 2012 the school won a statewide honor of a different kind: Northcrest was one of ten schools chosen from more than forty applicants in the Courts in the Classroom contest run by the Indiana courts, and the prize was a visit from a justice of the Indiana Supreme Court, come to teach the judicial branch of government in person to the school's students. The statehouse release announcing the winners named Chief Justice Brent Dickson and Justices Steven David and Mark Massa as the justices volunteering their time across the ten winning schools.

Enrollment: The federal record opens with three hundred eighty five students in 1987 and three hundred eighty one in 1988. Northcrest grew to about five hundred ten students by 2000 and five hundred twelve in 2007, dipped to four hundred twenty two in 2020, and then climbed past every earlier mark: four hundred fifty six in 2021, four hundred ninety three in 2022, five hundred fourteen in 2023, and five hundred thirty six in 2025. Principal Lindsay Amstutz, who has led the school since 2020, tells families Northcrest is at its highest enrollment in its history, and the federal numbers bear her out. The growth is entering at the front of the school: eighty six of the 2025 students are in prekindergarten and ninety two in kindergarten, and thirty six teachers staff the building. The 2025 student body, counted by the National Center for Education Statistics, holds one hundred seventy eight Hispanic students, one hundred thirty three Black students, one hundred twenty seven White students, fifty two Asian students and forty four students of two or more races; no single group holds a majority. Between sixty three and seventy three percent of Northcrest students have qualified for free or discounted lunch in recent years, and chronic absenteeism has run between eighteen and twenty five percent.

Today: In 2026 Northcrest is a Title I elementary school with an English language learner program, teaching about five hundred thirty six students in Board of School Trustees District 2. The Knights wear red and white, the colors of the school sign on Archwood Lane. Its students feed into Northwood Middle School and North Side High School. The school's people are its long timers: physical education teacher Dale Drasny, twenty four years at Northcrest, was named the district's Teacher Rock Star for September 2025, on nominations from his own staff; Principal Amstutz praised his teamwork, dedication and flexibility with students. SchoolDigger, working from state test data, has placed Northcrest between 798th and 949th among Indiana's thousand plus elementary schools across the past decade, in the bottom fifth of the state's elementary schools in 2025, a hard standing that the school's recent growth has not yet moved.

Sources:

1. Northcrest Elementary School, Our History page and homepage, northcrest.fortwayneschools.org, 2026: named for the geographic area where the school is located; built in 1956; the Title I and English language learner programs; feeders Northwood Middle School and North Side High School; Board District 2; home of the Knights.
2. History of Public Schools in Fort Wayne, compiled openings list, fortwaynesouthside.com, 2026: Northcrest beginning in 1957, against the school history page's 1956.
3. Indiana House Republicans, news release, September 6, 2012: Northcrest one of ten schools chosen from more than forty applicants in the Courts in the Classroom contest, the prize a visit from an Indiana Supreme Court justice; Chief Justice Brent Dickson and Justices Steven David and Mark Massa named as the justices volunteering across the winning schools.
4. Northcrest Elementary School, Meet the Principal page, northcrest.fortwayneschools.org, 2026: Lindsay Amstutz principal since 2020, and the school at its highest enrollment in its history.
5. National Center for Education Statistics, Northcrest Elementary School (180363000551): 385 students in 1987 and 381 in 1988; about 510 in 2000, 512 in 2007, 422 in 2020 and 456 in 2021; 536 students in the 2024 to 2025 school year with the composition of 178 Hispanic, 133 Black, 127 White, 52 Asian and 44 students of two or more races, among them 86 prekindergarten and 92 kindergarten students; thirty six teachers.
6. SchoolDigger, Northcrest Elementary School, 2026, from Indiana Department of Education and federal data: free or discounted lunch eligibility between 62.84 and 73.25 percent in recent years; chronic absenteeism between 17.8 and 25.0 percent; statewide ranks between 798th and 949th over the past decade and a standing in the bottom fifth of Indiana elementary schools in 2025.
7. Prep Sportswear, Northcrest Elementary School Knights store, 2026: the Knights, in red and white, at 5301 Archwood Lane, Fort Wayne.
8. Fort Wayne Community Schools, Instagram, October 2025: Dale Drasny, the district's Teacher Rock Star for September 2025, with twenty four years of service at Northcrest, nominated by his fellow staff, with Principal Amstutz's praise for his teamwork, dedication and flexibility.