Salem Community Schools

Salem Community Schools is an Indiana district serving roughly 1,592 students across three schools — an elementary school (PK–5), a middle school (6–8), and a high school (9–12) — and it ranks 173 of 374 Indiana districts, placing it in the 54th percentile with 3 stars.

Among the three schools, Salem Middle School is the clearest standout: it climbed from the 34th percentile and 2 stars to the 60th percentile and 3 stars, a jump of 26 percentile points in a single year. It has the district's lowest student-teacher ratio (10.8), and its all-grade proficiency beats the district in English language arts (41.29% vs. 36.66%) and science (37.88% vs. 35.43%), while math improved by more than 10 percentage points year over year. Salem High School also improved, moving from the 40th percentile and 2 stars to the 53rd percentile and 3 stars, with SAT reading rising to 51.26%, close to the state's 51.9%, and Biology at 48.36% versus 45.6% statewide in 2024-2025.

Bradie Shrum Elementary has the district's best attendance — 11.8% chronic absenteeism, about 5 points better than the district's 16.9% and the state's 16.7% — and stronger all-grade math (44.29% vs. 39.65%), but its rank has slipped from the 49th to the 43rd percentile and it remains at 2 stars, with ELA at 31.98%. At the high school, chronic absenteeism is 25.0%, SAT math is 15.13% versus the state's 25.6%, and the graduation rate is 83.4% against 89.7% statewide. Resources are uneven: the middle school receives the most per student ($11,699) with the smallest enrollment, while the largest school, Bradie Shrum (748 students), receives the least ($10,685).