Sullivan Middle School

Sullivan Middle School serves about 353 students in grades 6 through 8 in Sullivan, a small city in western Indiana, and is part of Southwest School Corporation. In 2025–26 the school ranked 255th of 486 Indiana middle schools — 48th percentile, 2 stars — a major change from its past. It was at the 83rd percentile with 4 stars in both 2021–22 and 2022–23, and at the 89th percentile back in 2015–16. The slide continued through 2023–24 (73rd percentile, 4 stars) and 2024–25 (57th percentile, 3 stars).

All-grade proficiency in 2025–26 was 33.63% in English/language arts, 30.36% in math, and 38.46% in science. The clearest weak spot is 7th grade, where both ELA and math landed at 24.79% proficient — far below the state's 41.7% in ELA and 35.9% in math. Other grades look much closer to state averages: 8th-grade ELA is 43.48% versus 44% statewide, and 6th-grade math is 39.42% versus 40.2%. Biology End-of-Course results are a standout, at 88% in 2025–26 and 90.63% in 2023–24 versus a state figure of 43.6% that year, though parents should read this cautiously since it may reflect a limited or advanced group of students.

Compared with nearby schools, three outperform Sullivan by a wide margin: Honey Creek Middle School (88th percentile), Linton-Stockton Middle School (81st), and White River Valley Middle School (71st). Only Carlisle Middle School (46th) is similar. Chronic absenteeism improved to 16.4% from 24.0% in 2021–22 — slightly better than the state's 16.7% — yet remains above the district's 12.5% and above Linton-Stockton's 10.2%. Sullivan's 16.7 students per teacher is the highest among these neighbors (11.2 to 13.0 elsewhere), and its 50.99% free/reduced lunch rate is moderate. Its $11,080 per-student spending is nearly identical to Honey Creek's $11,106 despite very different results, suggesting money and poverty alone do not explain the gap.