The top reported proficiency rate is 64% in Social studies. The lowest is 54% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Deputy Elementary School
Deputy Elementary School serves the small, rural community of Deputy in Jefferson County, Indiana, from prekindergarten through fourth grade. It is a regular public school within the Madison Consolidated Schools district. For a family considering this school, the picture is defined by its very small size, its agricultural setting, and student achievement results that stand out favorably when compared with other schools in the county.
The school is extremely small, with a total enrollment that reflects the shrinking population of Deputy itself. The community is an unincorporated area that was once a census-designated place; its population has declined steeply in recent decades, and it is now home to only a handful of residents. The surrounding economy is a mix of agriculture and manufacturing, with most employed residents commuting to jobs outside the immediate area. The school building sits on Mulberry Street near where the old Deputy High School once stood, and it functions as one of the primary civic anchors in a community that otherwise consists of scattered residences, a post office, churches, and farmland. There is no downtown, no public library in Deputy itself, and no pedestrian infrastructure; families drive to get anywhere.
The student body is almost entirely white, reflecting the demographics of the area. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that economic need is present. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the payload, so a family with a child in those categories would want to ask the school directly about available supports and services.
On state assessments administered through Indiana’s ILEARN program, Deputy Elementary’s students performed at a level that compares favorably with other schools in Jefferson County. In both math and English language arts, the share of students scoring proficient or above was above the midpoint of the county’s districts, and in science, the share was higher still. This is notable for a school of this size, where a small number of students can produce large swings in results from year to year. The performance pattern suggests that the school is delivering solid academic outcomes for its students relative to the local context. That said, the school serves only primary grades, so there are no high school outcomes such as a graduation rate to consider, and the long-term trajectory for these students will depend on their experience in the district’s upper-grade schools.
Because Deputy Elementary covers only through fourth grade, families should expect a transition to a larger school setting in later elementary or middle school. The district brief yielded no parent-relevant changes or recent developments at the district level, so there is little publicly reported information about broader initiatives, staffing, or programming that would affect this feeder pattern. A parent may want to contact the district office for current information about class size, specials, enrichment, and what the next school in the sequence looks like.
For a family that values a very small school rooted in a rural community where children are likely to be known individually by staff, Deputy Elementary fits that profile clearly. The academic results are a relative strength within the county. The trade-offs are the isolation of the setting, the lack of nearby commercial or civic amenities, and the fact that the school is part of a contracting local population. There is no data on chronic absenteeism or discipline, so those are open questions a family would need to investigate. The school offers no special designation as a magnet or charter, and it operates as a straightforward neighborhood elementary school.
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