Summary:
Shoals Middle School is the only middle-level school in the Shoals Community School Corp, a small rural district in Shoals, Indiana, serving grades 6 through 8 with 126 students. Because it is the district's sole middle-grades campus, there is no in-district peer to compare against — every comparison here is to the district as a whole, to Indiana, or to the school's own past.
Academically, the school ranks in the bottom quartile of Indiana middle schools (23rd percentile, 1 star), down from the 42nd percentile in 2023-24. Seventh grade is the sharpest concern: 7th grade math proficiency is 7.14% and 7th grade ELA is 10.71%, roughly one-fifth and one-quarter of state rates. Other grades fare better — 8th grade math reaches 65% of the state rate and 6th grade ELA 62%. Science is the clear bright spot and the only subject where the school beats its district (37.25% proficient vs. 35.16% district), placing it at 90% of the state rate and more than doubling from 14.81% the prior year. In ELA overall, the school slipped from above its district in 2024-25 to nearly 6 points below it in 2025-26 (18.18% vs. 24.12%).
Two context numbers stand out. Chronic absenteeism is 31.1% — almost double Indiana's 16.7% and higher than the district's own 28.6%, meaning this campus is the district's absenteeism hotspot; roughly 39 of 126 students miss at least 10% of school days. Meanwhile, the free/reduced-lunch rate is just 2.38%, about 3 students, which defies the usual expectation that near-zero measured poverty accompanies above-average achievement. Resources look adequate — $12,738 per student (about $1.6M total) and a 14.8:1 student-teacher ratio. Finally, note the small cohorts of roughly 28 to 51 students per grade: a single student can move a proficiency rate by 2 to 4 points, so year-over-year swings and rank changes should be read with caution.
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