Summary:
ZIP code 47304 has just one middle school: Northside Middle School, serving grades 6–8 with 630 students in Muncie, Indiana, as part of Muncie Community Schools. Because it is the only middle school in the area, families here have a single option, and it serves a high-need population — about 70% of students qualified for free or reduced-price lunch in 2024–25.
Academically, Northside outperforms its district. In 2025–26, all-grade proficiency was 33.55% in ELA, 29.83% in math, and 36.32% in science, compared with district rates of 22.96%, 26.26%, and 22.94%. The school's rank improved from the 30th percentile in 2023–24 to the 33rd and then the 45th in 2025–26, and it holds a 2-star rating while the district holds 1 star. Even so, Northside trails the state in every grade-level comparison, and math proficiency slips from 35.82% in 6th grade to 28.16% in 7th and 25.39% in 8th. Biology End-of-Course results are a standout, at 91.43% in 2024–25 and 76.92% in 2025–26, far above the district's 27.54% and 28.85%.
The biggest concern is attendance: 40.9% of students were chronically absent in 2024–25, above the district's 35.0% and more than double the state's 16.7%. Resources look relatively favorable — a student-teacher ratio of 11.9 and per-student spending of $13,574 in 2023–24 — yet outcomes still lag state averages. For parents, the picture is a school making genuine progress with a high-need student body, where attendance is likely the single biggest lever for further improvement.
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