Best Public Schools in Oxford, IN

Oxford, Indiana is served by two public schools in the Benton Community School Corp district: Benton Central Junior-Senior High School, which covers grades 7–12 with 792 students, and Prairie Crossing Elementary School, serving grades K–6 with 564 students — 1,356 students in total. Because the high school spans grades 7–12, there is no separate middle school. The district ranks 140 of 374 statewide, at the 63rd percentile with 3 stars, but that middle-of-the-road figure hides a sharp split between its two schools.

Benton Central Junior-Senior High School is the academic standout. Its latest rank is 76 of 415 — the 82nd percentile with 4 stars — its best of the three years shown, improving from 104 of 432 and 123 of 429. Its graduation rate is 94.6% versus the state's 89.7%, and chronic absenteeism is 12.8% versus 16.7% statewide. In 2025–2026 ILEARN results it posts 36.59% ELA and 39.84% math proficiency, above the district's 29.47% and 39.2%. Its 11th-grade SAT results are also strong: 60% in evidence-based reading and writing versus 51.9% statewide, and 33.6% in math versus 25.6%. Performance is not uniform, though — 7th-grade ELA and 8th-grade ELA and math trail state averages.

Prairie Crossing Elementary School tells the opposite story, declining each year from 574th to 630th to 736th of 1,015 — the 27th percentile with 1 star. All-grade ILEARN proficiency is 20% in ELA, 32.46% in math and 27.92% in science, all below district levels, with science falling from 40.46% the prior year. Fourth grade is the weakest point: ELA 9.21% versus the state's 42.2%, math 23.68% versus 52%, and science 23.68% versus 43.8%. The school also serves a more economically disadvantaged population — 69.68% free/reduced lunch versus 51.89% at Benton Central — with lower per-student spending ($12,388 versus $15,438) and a higher student-teacher ratio (14.9 versus 12.7). Attendance is a relative strength for both schools, at 13.9% and 12.8% chronic absenteeism, under the state's 16.7%.