Summary:
Pike Central Middle School is the only middle school in Pike County School Corp, serving grades 6–8 to 383 students in Petersburg, Indiana, so it represents the district’s entire middle-level performance. It holds 2 stars and ranked 273 out of 486 schools in 2025–26, after ranking 248 out of 480 in 2024–25 and 273 out of 491 in 2023–24. The star rating has stayed at 2 stars across all three reported years.
Science is the relative bright spot: all-grade science proficiency is 39.52%, slightly above the district’s all-grade 39.19% and only 1.68 points below the state’s 6th-grade science result of 41.2%. Math has improved, rising from 30.47% to 31.97%, and 6th-grade math is the strongest math grade at 35.48%. Still, math trails the district by 5.09 points, and grade-level math gaps to the state range from 4.05 to 6.16 points. ELA is the bigger concern: all-grade ELA fell from 34.63% to 28.14%, and 6th-grade ELA is 20.97%, which is 20.33 points below the state; 8th-grade ELA is 26.17%, 17.83 points below the state. The strongest ELA grade is 7th at 36.3%, still 5.4 points below the state.
Chronic absenteeism is markedly high at 22.6%, compared with 19.4% in the district and 16.7% statewide. The school serves a majority economically disadvantaged population, with 53.52% free/reduced lunch. Its student-teacher ratio is 12.9, which appears favorable, but the data does not provide district or state comparisons for that ratio or for per-student spending of $12,265 in 2023–24. Overall, parents should see a school with a relative science strength, slight math progress, significant ELA declines, and high absenteeism that may be affecting achievement.
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