Summary:
Portland, Indiana has two public elementary schools — East Elementary School (grades K–2) and East Jay Elementary (grades 3–6) — both part of Jay School Corporation. Together they cover the full K–6 span and enroll 924 students. East Jay is larger at 529 students versus 395, but the difference is mostly about grade span: both schools average roughly 132 students per grade. The district ranks 147th of 374 in Indiana, at the 61st percentile with 3 stars.
East Elementary has no state test scores, since ILEARN testing begins in grade 3 — that's expected, not a weakness. Its strengths are climate and resources: chronic absenteeism of 13.3% is the lower of the two and below both the district's 19.0% and the state's 16.7%; the student-teacher ratio is 12.2 versus 15.4 at East Jay (about 20.8% lower); and per-student spending is $12,124 versus $10,536 (about $1,588, or 15.1%, more). Its earlier rank history is strong — 4 stars and 73rd–82nd percentile from 2015–2016 to 2017–2018 — though that data is older and cannot be compared directly with East Jay's current standing.
East Jay, the tested school, is generally above its district in 2025–2026: all-grade ELA 44.47% versus 39.8%, math 48.54% versus 43.01%, and science 40.61% versus 40.22%. Relative to the state, it shines in 6th grade math (+13.71 points), 3rd grade ELA (+9.2), 3rd grade math (+7.75), and 6th grade ELA (+6.36). Watch areas are 5th grade math (−6.29), 4th grade math (−4.63), 4th grade science (−3.2), and 5th grade social studies. All-grade science dropped 10.31 points year over year. Free/reduced lunch rates are nearly identical (64.65% and 64.81%), and both schools keep absenteeism below district and state averages.
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