Elementary Schools in Fairfield Community Schools

The three elementary schools in Fairfield Community Schools — New Paris Elementary School, Benton Elementary School, and Millersburg Elementary School — all serve grades K–6 and together enroll 1,265 students. The district is ranked 78th of 374 Indiana districts, at the 79th percentile with a 4-star rating. New Paris (488 students) and Benton (481) are nearly identical in size, while Millersburg is much smaller at 296 students.

Benton is the most consistent high performer, ranked 162nd of 1,015 schools (84th percentile, 4 stars) and leading the group in science (49.32%) and in all three 6th-grade subjects: ELA 55.26%, math 60.53%, and science 51.32%. It also has the lowest free/reduced lunch rate (20.58%) and the lowest per-student spending ($9,320). New Paris is the math leader, with the highest Math All Grades score (70.28%), including 80.00% in 4th-grade math, and the lowest chronic absenteeism (6.8%). It also improved sharply year over year: ELA rose from 44.64% to 52.80% and math from 58.48% to 70.28%.

Millersburg has resource advantages — the lowest student-teacher ratio (15.0) and the highest per-student spending ($11,485) — but the lowest ELA (35.82%), math (51.49%), and science (31.75%) proficiency and the lowest rank (458th of 1,015, 55th percentile, 3 stars), down from the 73rd percentile in 2023–2024. Its 5th-grade social studies score (61.29%) is the best in the group. Notably, science declined in all three schools and across the district, while 5th-grade social studies improved everywhere and all three schools exceeded the state's 47.2%. Chronic absenteeism is low throughout and does not explain the achievement differences.