Parke Heritage Middle School

Parke Heritage Middle School is a small grades 6–8 school in the rural town of Marshall, Indiana, serving 249 students as part of the North Central Parke Community School Corp, and it currently ranks 235th of 486 Indiana middle schools — 52nd percentile with 3 stars for 2025–2026.

That ranking marks a real turnaround. As recently as 2018–2019 the school sat at 327th of 470, in the 30th percentile with 2 stars, and it climbed steadily into 3-star, mid-pack territory, peaking at 62nd percentile in 2023–2024 before settling at 51st and now 52nd. Recent ILEARN proficiency is 32.03% in English language arts, 35.55% in math, and 37.93% in science. Math has improved for several years running, while ELA has weakened since its 2023–2024 high. The averages hide uneven grade-level results: 7th grade is the clear weak spot, with ELA proficiency at just 19.79% and math at 28.13%, both below state levels. By contrast, 8th grade math is a genuine strength at 45.21%, above the state and both nearby schools. Chronic absenteeism has dropped sharply from 22.7% in 2022–2023 to 14.9% in 2024–2025, better than the state rate of 16.7% but slightly above the district's 14.0%.

Compared with neighbors, South Vermillion Middle School (grades 5–8, 494 students) is nearly identical in rank — 53rd percentile, 3 stars — and posts slightly higher proficiency across all grades, along with better attendance (11.3%). Southmont Junior High School, part of the South Montgomery Com School Corp, is far ahead at the 89th percentile with 4 stars and much higher proficiency. Notably, Parke Heritage has a higher free/reduced lunch rate (55.02%) than Southmont (38.78%) yet spends more per pupil ($11,060) and has smaller classes (11.6 students per teacher). Its smaller size means grade-level swings may partly reflect individual cohorts rather than school-wide instruction.