The top reported proficiency rate is 40% in Math. The lowest is 26% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Aurora Elementary School
Aurora Elementary School serves students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade in the South Dearborn Community School Corporation, a school system that covers the town of Aurora and surrounding parts of Dearborn County. Aurora itself is a small town on the Ohio River with a historic downtown of preserved buildings, a mix of Victorian-era homes, and a manufacturing economy anchored by companies like Matthews International and Stedman Machine Company. The town is experiencing a slight population decline rather than rapid growth, and its development focus is on historic preservation and small-town revitalization rather than large new subdivisions.
The school enrolls a sizable student body for an elementary building, drawing almost entirely from the surrounding white population, with very small shares of Black, Hispanic, and multiracial students. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a high level of economic need in the community. Data on the share of students receiving special education services or classified as English learners was not available in the current set.
Academically, the elementary school’s state test results are soft. On the Indiana ILEARN assessments, which measure whether students are meeting grade-level standards, proficiency rates for the school as a whole came in below the midpoint among Dearborn County’s handful of districts. In math, roughly two out of every five students tested scored at the proficient or above level. English language arts was lower, with just over a quarter of students reaching proficiency. Science proficiency, tested only in selected grades, was just above a third of students, while social studies proficiency, also limited to one grade, was about a quarter of test-takers. For a parent, this means the school is contending with significant academic challenges, and understanding what supports the school offers for students who are below grade level would be worth investigating directly with the school.
The district has reported notable capital outlay and construction spending in recent fiscal data, reflecting ongoing facility investment. This can affect the quality of school buildings and may influence future property tax obligations for residents, but the available information did not include specifics about which buildings were being renovated or what the timeline for work might be.
The school does not serve grades where a graduation rate would apply, so that metric is absent. No chronic absenteeism data, course access information, or discipline data were available in this profile, leaving a gap in the picture of daily school environment and student support.
Aurora Elementary is a regular public school and not a charter or magnet school. The surrounding community offers limited walkability for most residents; driving is the primary mode of transportation. The town does offer several parks, a public library, and a recreation trail along the river, but civic amenities are separated from the school campuses.
Housing in the Aurora ZIP code is priced above the Indiana state benchmark but below the national benchmark, which may matter for families weighing home purchase costs against school options. The national economic context shows mortgage rates have been fluctuating modestly.
The combination of high economic need among the student body and below-average test results suggests that the school is operating in a challenging environment. A parent evaluating this school will want to ask about specific intervention programs, how the school identifies and supports students who are not yet proficient, and what recent facility investments mean for the building and classroom experience.
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