Best Public Schools in Zip Code 46996

ZIP code 46996 covers Winamac, Indiana, a single-town community where all three public schools belong to one district, Eastern Pulaski Community School Corp, and together they serve the full PK–12 span: Eastern Pulaski Elementary School (PK–5, 473 students), Winamac Community Middle School (6–8, 239 students), and Winamac Community High School (9–12, 345 students) — 1,057 students in total.

Comparing the three, the middle school is the strongest performer: it ranks 150 of 486 (69th percentile) and posts the area's biggest gains over state in 7th grade ELA (57.14% vs. 41.7%) and 8th grade ELA (63.22% vs. 44.0%), with chronic absenteeism of 8.0% against a state rate of 16.7%. The elementary school has the best attendance in the ZIP at 4.9% and beats the state in 3rd and 4th grade reading and math, but 5th grade falls below state in every subject tested there, including social studies at roughly 17 points under state — part of a broader 5th/6th grade dip. The high school graduates 100% of its students versus 89.7% statewide and improved Biology proficiency to 49.28%, yet its SAT Reading and Writing (39.13% vs. 51.9%) and SAT Math (23.19% vs. 25.6%) trail the state, and its absenteeism of 15.1% is the district's highest.

All three schools have slipped in state percentile since 2023–24 — elementary down 6 points, middle down 11, and high school down 24 — even though elementary and middle ELA proficiency rose year over year, suggesting peers improved faster. Classes are small everywhere (11.1 to 13.5 students per teacher, smallest at the high school), and per-pupil spending is nearly flat, from $12,347 to $13,081. Free/reduced lunch is highest at the elementary (54.97%, versus about 48.5% at the middle and high schools).