Miller Beach - Education

Education

Public schooling in Miller Beach, is provided by the Gary Community School Corporation. Public elementary schools in Miller include Marquette Elementary, near Marquette Park, and Banneker Elementary near Long Lake. Miller's public secondary schools include Wirt Emerson VPA, formerly William A. Wirt High School. Wirt Emerson is a magnet school for the visual and performing arts, serving grades 6-12.

Charter schools in Miller Beach include KIPP: Lead College Prep Charter School and the Charter School of the Dunes, located adjacent to the Lake Street Beach. Like all charter schools in Gary, these schools are sponsored by Ball State University. At the neighborhood's edge, a private religious school is operated by Christ Baptist Church in the Glen Ryan area; another private school is located in Aetna. The Miller Beach area is also served by the Roman Catholic schools of the Gary diocese. As of 2011, there were no Catholic schools in Miller Beach, although the local parish did operate a K-8 institution, Saint Mary of The Lake School, from 1949 to 1993.

Nearby institutions of higher learning include Indiana University Northwest in Gary's Glen Park neighborhood, Purdue University Calumet in Hammond, and Valparaiso University in Valparaiso. There are no colleges or universities within Miller Beach itself. The 2005-2009 American Community Survey found that approximately 28% of Miller Beach residents had a bachelor's degree or higher.

Additional community education facilities include the Paul Douglas Center for Environmental Education in Miller Woods, which provides environmental education to residents and visitors. Numerous scheduled lectures, classes and workshops are held there each year. The trails around the Douglas Center additionally provide a self-guided nature tour.

Downtown Miller Beach is home to the South Shore Centre for the Arts, located in the building once occupied by the Miller School. The Centre provides classes for the general public on subjects including dance, piano, voice, and self-defense. The Centre is also home to the South Shore Dance Alliance, a "pre-professional" contemporary dance company drawing members from throughout Northwest Indiana and performing throughout the Chicago area.