Best High Schools in Zip Code 46781

ZIP code 46781 has exactly one high school, Southern Wells Junior-Senior High School in Poneto, Indiana, serving grades 7–12 with 384 students as part of Southern Wells Com Schools. Because it is the only high school in the ZIP, parents should compare it with its own past performance, its district, and Indiana averages rather than with nearby ZIP peers. The school’s ranking has been volatile: it was 66 of 429 (85th percentile, 4 stars) in 2024–2025, 174 of 415 (58th percentile, 3 stars) in 2025–2026, and 152 of 432 (65th percentile, 3 stars) in 2023–2024. The district is ranked 152 of 374, at the 59th percentile with 3 stars. Graduation is a clear strength: 100.0% in 2024–2025, equal to the district and above the state’s 89.7%. Chronic absenteeism was 17.6%, above the district’s 16.5% and the state’s 16.7%.

Academically, the school’s strongest current signal is English language arts. In 2025–2026, ILEARN ELA was 65.22% for All Grades, versus the district’s 45.19%; 7th grade was 57.75% versus the state’s 41.7%, and 8th grade was 73.13% versus the state’s 44%. Math is more mixed. ILEARN Math was 29.71% for All Grades, below the district’s 32.21%; 7th grade was 32.39% versus the state’s 35.9%, and 8th grade was 26.87% versus the state’s 34.2%. SAT Math was 30.51%, still above Indiana’s 25.6%, while SAT ERW was 52.54% versus the state’s 51.9%. Year over year, ILEARN ELA rose from 38.13% to 65.22%, but SAT ERW fell from 60.29% to 52.54%, SAT Math fell from 44.12% to 30.51%, and ILEARN Biology End-of-Course fell from 45.76% to 31.17%.

For families, the school’s context is a moderate-need, relatively small-class environment: 40.62% of students qualified for free/reduced lunch, per-student spending was $11,699 in 2023–2024, and the student-teacher ratio was 12.8 in 2024–2025. Strengths include the 100.0% graduation rate, ELA proficiency, and SAT Math relative to the state. Challenges include ILEARN math proficiency, chronic absenteeism slightly above the state, and recent ranking volatility. The sharp declines in Biology End-of-Course and SAT scores from the prior year are worth watching, even as ELA improved.