Summary:
The middle school landscape in the MSD Bluffton-Harrison area of Indiana consists of a single school: Bluffton-Harrison Middle School, which serves grades 5–8, enrolls 556 students, and is located at 1500 Stogdill Rd in Bluffton. Because it is the only middle school in the district, parents are essentially choosing this one school, so the most useful comparisons are against the district, the state, and the school's own prior years.
The school's clear academic strength is science. In 2025–2026, all-grade science proficiency was 48.12%, above the district's 41.79% and above Indiana's 6th-grade science mark of 41.2%, and it improved from 43.55% the year before. Sixth grade stands out across the board, exceeding state proficiency in ELA (47.01% vs. 41.3%), math (41.79% vs. 40.2%), and science (48.12% vs. 41.2%). The school is also on an upward trend in state rank, moving from 183 of 491 schools in 2023–2024 to 159 of 486 in 2025–2026, with its percentile rising from 63 to 67 while holding a 3-star rating. The district, MSD Bluffton-Harrison, ranks 139 of 374 districts statewide. Chronic absenteeism is remarkably low at 5.8%, below the district's 6.2% and far below the state's 16.7%.
The main concern is 5th grade. Fifth-grade ELA was 23.53%, 18.67 points below the state's 42.2%, and 5th-grade math was 32.68%, 9.32 points below the state's 42.0%. All-grade math, at 36.9%, fell below the district's 39.81% and slipped from 39.17% a year earlier, though grades 6, 7, and 8 all met or exceeded state math benchmarks. Fifth-grade social studies improved in absolute terms (43.61% to 44.74%) but fell behind a rising state benchmark. With 52.16% of students qualifying for free/reduced lunch, per-student spending of $10,935, and a 14:1 student-teacher ratio, the school's low absenteeism and improving rank are notable positives.
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