Summary:
Ferdinand, Indiana is a small community served by three public schools enrolling roughly 1,123 students in total: two elementaries — Nancy Hanks Elementary School (PK–6) and Ferdinand Elementary School (PK–4) — and one junior-senior high school, Forest Park Junior-Senior High School (grades 7–12). Nancy Hanks belongs to North Spencer County School Corp, while Forest Park and Ferdinand Elementary are part of Southeast Dubois County School Corp. There are no standalone middle schools or alternative schools in this group.
Nancy Hanks is the clear academic standout, ranking 24th of 1,015 elementary schools statewide (98th percentile, 5 stars) and leading all three schools in ELA (72.32%), math (76.79%) and science (69.49%). It achieves this with the highest free/reduced lunch rate (32.77%) and the highest student-teacher ratio (18.9) in the group. Forest Park is also strong, ranking 36th of 415 high schools (91st percentile, 5 stars) with a 98.1% graduation rate and SAT reading/writing proficiency of 75.64%, though its all-grades math (45.19%) is below its district average and SAT math slipped from 40.96% to 35.9%.
Ferdinand Elementary is a math standout — 70.19% in math, above its district’s 59.59%, and 76% in 4th-grade math versus the state’s 52% — but ELA fell to 48.08%, below the district’s 56.34%, and its rank dropped from 91st to 222nd (5 stars to 4). Absenteeism is a citywide strength: 3.2%, 3.8% and 6.4% at the three schools, all far under the state’s 16.7%. Resources do not simply track results: Forest Park spends the most per student ($12,285) and has the smallest classes, yet Nancy Hanks produces the strongest overall outcomes.
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