Summary:
ZIP code 46304 (Chesterton, Indiana) is served by a single public high school: Chesterton Senior High School, which enrolls about 1,937 students in grades 9–12 and is the flagship campus of Duneland School Corporation. Because there is only one high school in the area, there is no local peer to compare against — the useful benchmarks are how this school stacks up against its own district, against Indiana, and against its own past performance.
The school's trajectory is strong and clearly improving. It climbed from 50th to 48th to 30th of Indiana high schools over three years, moving from the 88th to the 93rd percentile statewide and earning a 5-star rating in 2025–2026 after two 4-star years. Graduation stands at 99.1%, well above the 89.7% state figure. Test results also rose in every subject: SAT reading/writing went from 69.12% to 74.24% and SAT math from 39.5% to 43.07%, both far above statewide proficiency of 51.9% and 25.6%. Reading is a particular strength — the school widened its advantage over the state from roughly 14.6 points to about 22.3 points while state reading scores fell. Biology ILEARN results also improved, from 45.48% to 49.5%.
Two areas are worth watching. First, science is the school's soft spot: Biology proficiency runs 14–15 points below the Duneland district figure in both years, even though the school outperforms the district on both SAT measures. Second, 18.7% of students are chronically absent — higher than both the district (15.6%) and the state (16.7%) — despite the near-perfect graduation rate. About 24.26% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch, per-student spending is $12,381, and the student-teacher ratio is 17.2, meaning this is a large school producing elite outcomes at moderate cost with moderate need.
Thank you for your feedback!