Best Public Schools in Montezuma, IN

Montezuma, Indiana is served by just two public schools: Montezuma Elementary School, which covers PK–6 with 213 students, and Riverton Parke Junior-Senior High School, which covers grades 7–12 with 471 students, for a total city enrollment of 684. There is no standalone middle school and no alternative school, so grades 7–8 are housed in the junior-senior high. Both schools belong to Southwest Parke Com School Corp, a district ranked 246 of 374 statewide, at the 34th percentile with 2 stars.

Attendance, graduation, and class size are the clearest bright spots. Riverton Parke’s graduation rate is 95.1%, higher than the state’s 89.7%, and chronic absenteeism is below the state’s 16.7% at both schools — 12.9% at the high school and 10.7% at the elementary. Student-teacher ratios are small, 9.9 at the high school and 9.5 at the elementary. Montezuma Elementary’s standout academic result is 3rd grade math at 65.22% proficient, above both the district’s 58.06% and the state’s 51.9%; 4th grade math is 50%, close to the state’s 52%. At the high school, all-grade ELA is 41.55% proficient, well above the district’s 27.87%, and 7th grade ELA is 45.07%, above the state’s 41.7%.

The concerns are concentrated in later grades. Montezuma Elementary’s 5th grade ELA is only 3.85% proficient against the state’s 42.2%, 5th grade Social Studies is 11.54% versus 47.2%, 4th grade ELA is 13.89%, and 6th grade ELA is 17.24%. Math fades after 3rd grade: 5th grade is 15.38% and 6th grade 13.79%. The elementary school has been rated 1 star for three reported years, at the 28th, 27th, and 25th percentiles. Riverton Parke’s SAT Math is 11.9% versus the state’s 25.6%, SAT reading and writing is 42.86% versus 51.9%, and Biology End-of-Course fell to 15.79% from 33.73%. Its ranking has swung from 1 star to 2 stars and back to 1 star.