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Best Public Schools in Auburn, IN

Coming soon: We're expecting this year's test scores from the Indiana Department of Education any day now — new rankings will be posted the moment they're released!

Coming soon: This year's test scores are expected from the Indiana Department of Education any day now — new rankings will follow the moment they're released!

At a glance

Schools

1,210

Students

Top rankedJames R Watson Elementary School364^th of 1,005 Indiana elementary schools

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Biggest riser

McKenney-Harrison Elementary School up 86 spots statewide this year

Compare Indiana cities →See the top-ranked Indiana schools →

Summary:

The city of Auburn, Indiana is home to two elementary schools, James R Watson Elementary School and McKenney-Harrison Elementary School, both serving students from kindergarten through 6th grade. These schools are part of the DeKalb County Ctl United School District, which is ranked 169th out of 380 districts in Indiana.

Based on the data, James R Watson Elementary School stands out as a high-performing institution, consistently achieving higher proficiency rates on ILEARN tests in English Language Arts, Math, and Science compared to McKenney-Harrison Elementary School and the overall district. Additionally, James R Watson has a higher statewide ranking, placing 364th out of 1,005 Indiana elementary schools, and has maintained a 4-star rating from SchoolDigger in recent years, while McKenney-Harrison has fluctuated between 2 and 3 stars.

Despite the performance gap, both schools have similar chronic absenteeism rates of 17.8% in 2023-2024. However, the free and reduced lunch rate at James R Watson Elementary (38.69%) is significantly lower than McKenney-Harrison (55.18%), indicating a more economically advantaged student population at James R Watson.

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				ILEARN English Language Arts (2025)				ILEARN Math (2025)				ILEARN Science (2025)		ILEARN Social Studies (2025)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients (2025)	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	ILEARN English Language Arts 3rd Grade	ILEARN English Language Arts 4th Grade	ILEARN English Language Arts 5th Grade	ILEARN English Language Arts All Grades	ILEARN Math 3rd Grade	ILEARN Math 4th Grade	ILEARN Math 5th Grade	ILEARN Math All Grades	ILEARN Science 4th Grade	ILEARN Science All Grades	ILEARN Social Studies 5th Grade	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
James R Watson Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	901 Eckhart Ave	Auburn	46706	DeKalb County	DeKalb County Ctl United School District	No	No	No	Yes	(260) 920-1014	590	30	19.3	40.2%	526 (89.2%)	3 (0.5%)	45 (7.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.7%)	12 (2.0%)	63.1	364^th of 1005 public elementary schools	63.8%		71.9	272^nd of 1011 public elementary schools	73.1%	92	45.7	38.7	46.6	43.3	43.2	63.2	52.3	53.8	41.5	41.5	44.3	$9,898	$539	$9,359
McKenney-Harrison Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	400 South Indiana Ave	Auburn	46706	DeKalb County	DeKalb County Ctl United School District	No	No	No	Yes	(260) 920-1015	620	33	18.5	57.1%	556 (89.7%)	2 (0.3%)	35 (5.6%)	9 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.6%)	14 (2.3%)	61.3	379^th of 1005 public elementary schools	62.3%		55.9	465^th of 1011 public elementary schools	54.0%	86	36.5	51.1	37.0	41.2	54.2	62.0	40.2	52.2	57.6	57.6	32.6	$9,459	$716	$8,743
DeKalb Virtual Academy	Public	6-12	1011 West 7th St.	Auburn	46706	DeKalb County	DeKalb County Ctl United School District	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(260) 920-1010	0				0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()								(n/a)

Cities Near Auburn

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Waterloo	2.52 mi	3	246^th
Garrett	4.47 mi	3	361^st
Ashley	8.37 mi	1	336^th
Saint Joe	8.38 mi	1	113^th
Butler	9.73 mi	2	270^th

See the top IN Indiana cities

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Indiana Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.