The top reported proficiency rate is 69% in Social studies. The lowest is 44% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Swayzee Elementary School
Swayzee Elementary School sits along Washington Street in a small, rural Grant County town that has been quiet since its late-1800s natural gas boom ended and a string of fires and explosions drove most businesses away. The town today is a close-knit agricultural community with a public library, three churches, an annual farm festival, and a compact footprint where civic buildings line the main road. The school is part of the Oak Hill United School Corporation and serves only the fifth and sixth grades — a narrow two-grade span that makes it a transitional building between primary grades and middle school.
The student body is predominantly white, with a modest Hispanic population and a smaller share of students who identify as two or more races. Asian and Black students each represent a very small fraction of enrollment. A substantial portion of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic reality of a town that has seen steady population decline for decades. Housing in the area is moderately priced relative to the nation, consistent with a rural community where most families own single-family homes along or near Washington Street. The school sits in the same central corridor as the town hall and library, so daily routines for families likely revolve around a short main-street commute.
On the Indiana ILEARN assessments, Swayzee Elementary’s students show a pattern in which more than half meet state proficiency standards in math and in English language arts, with math slightly ahead of reading. Science proficiency is lower, while social studies — tested only in grade five — is the school’s strongest subject by a clear margin. When compared to other districts in Grant County, the school’s overall proficiency across all tested subjects and grades lands near the top of the county. This is a notable strength for a school serving a small, lower-income community; the median proficiency index among the county’s school districts is quite a bit lower, and Swayzee sits well above that midpoint.
Because the school covers only grades five and six, there is no graduation rate to report, nor would one expect that metric at this level. The data for chronic absenteeism was not available, and information on special education and English learner populations was also missing, so a parent who needs those specifics would want to follow up directly with the school. Similarly, no detailed program offerings or staffing ratios were in the available data, though the school’s regular public school designation and small size suggest an environment where teachers know students well across the two grade levels.
The bigger picture is a school that performs above the typical benchmark for its county despite serving a town with modest household incomes and a declining population. Families moving into the area or already living along the Washington Street corridor will find a school that is physically central to daily life, that draws from a mostly white and low-to-moderate-income community, and that delivers academic results that are among the stronger ones in Grant County. The two-grade span means students arrive having spent four years elsewhere in the district and leave after sixth grade for a different building, so the experience is intentionally transitional. For a parent trying to understand whether this fits, the answer turns less on whether the school is failing — it is not — and more on whether the small-town, transitional structure and the rural setting match what a family is looking for. The available evidence suggests a solid academic track record for a school of this size and context.
See more original research from School Decision →