Best Public Schools in Arcadia, IN

Arcadia, Indiana has three public schools—Hamilton Heights Elementary School (PK–4), Hamilton Heights Middle School (5–8), and Hamilton Heights High School (9–12)—all in Hamilton Heights School Corp, serving 2,341 students. The district is strong overall, ranking 54th of 374 Indiana districts (86th percentile) with 4 stars. Elementary is largest at 889 students, middle 742, high 710.

Among the three, Hamilton Heights Middle School has the strongest current ranking: 83rd percentile with 4 stars, and its 7th- and 8th-grade ELA scores are about 20 percentage points above the state. Hamilton Heights High School has the best graduation rate at 95.2%, above the state’s 89.7%, and its SAT Evidence-based Reading and Writing score is 60.49% versus the state’s 51.9%. Hamilton Heights Elementary School is the most improved, moving from the 52nd to 58th to 64th percentile over three years, and it has the lowest chronic absenteeism at 8.5%, compared with the district’s 11.2% and the state’s 16.7%. However, the high school slipped from a 5-star, 90th-percentile year in 2024–25 to 4 stars and 82nd percentile in 2025–26, with SAT ERW falling from 66.86% to 60.49% and SAT Math falling from 30.23% to 24.07%.

Math is the most uneven subject across the pipeline. Elementary math is strong at 52.62% proficient, above the district’s 46.17%, while the middle school’s All Grades math is 42.66%, below the district’s 46.17%, and the high school’s SAT Math is 24.07%, below the state’s 25.6%. Reading and writing remain clear secondary strengths, and science is generally solid. The high school also has the highest chronic absenteeism at 14.6%, though that is still below the state’s 16.7%. Spending per student rises by level—$8,655 elementary, $9,894 middle, $11,753 high—and the high school has the lowest student-teacher ratio at 14.7, while the middle school has the highest at 18.2. These patterns are worth monitoring, but the data alone does not establish cause and effect.