Summary:
Zip code 62629 has six schools in Ball Chatham CUSD 5, serving elementary, middle and high school students. Overall, elementary results were well above state results in 2025–26: the three schools averaged 71% in ELA versus 56% statewide, and 65% in math versus 40% statewide. But the difference between the highest- and lowest-scoring elementary schools was 18 percentage points in ELA and 17 points in math. The most important takeaway is that strong area-wide elementary results mask substantial differences among schools.
Ball Elementary School led elementary math at 73% and had the area’s lowest chronic absenteeism, 6%, compared with 24% statewide. Chatham Elementary School led elementary ELA at 78%, while Glenwood Elementary School had the lowest all-grades results in both subjects: 60% in ELA and 56% in math. Among middle schools, all-grades results were closer: Glenwood Intermediate School led ELA by 1 point, while Glenwood Middle School led math by 2 points. One grade-level exception is Glenwood Middle’s grade-8 ELA: 60%, 3 points below the state. Glenwood High School scored above the state in all three reported grade-11 ACT subjects.
Recent trends favor the middle schools: their all-grades averages rose 4 points in ELA and 2 in math from 2024–25 to 2025–26. Elementary averages were nearly flat, with ELA up 1 point and math down 1; Glenwood Elementary declined 7 points in ELA and 3 in math, while Ball and Chatham had mixed subject trends. SchoolDigger ranked Ball 200th of 1,737 elementary schools (88th percentile), Chatham 245th (86th) and Glenwood Elementary 674th (61st) in 2025–26; Glenwood Elementary’s percentile fell from 78 to 61 over three years. As context, the elementary schools’ free/reduced lunch eligible rates in 2024–25 ranged from 23% at Ball and Glenwood to 31% at Chatham; these figures do not explain score differences.
Thank you for your feedback!