Marion-Florence

The Marion-Florence area has three schools serving pre-K through grade 12, with 516 students across Marion Elementary, Marion Middle, and Marion High. Across the three schools, average results are above state figures in ELA, mathematics, and science by about 9, 9, and 12 percentage points, respectively. But school results vary notably, especially in mathematics, where the gap between the highest and lowest results is 22 points. The most important takeaway is that Middle performs strongly across subjects, while Elementary’s mathematics results are a clear weak spot.

Marion Middle stands out overall, with 60% in mathematics, 57% in ELA, and 55% in science—about 19, 11, and 17 points above state figures. Marion Elementary is nearly level with Middle in ELA at about 57% and leads the schools in science at 57%, but its mathematics result is 37%, about 4 points below the state. Marion High posts 50% in ELA and 53% in mathematics, both above state figures; its 38% science result is 0.4 points below the state. Grade-level comparisons add useful detail: Elementary’s third-grade ELA is 15 points above the same-grade state result, while its third-grade mathematics is 12 points below; Middle is above the state in every reported grade and subject.

ELA and mathematics improved on average from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, with school averages rising about 8 points in each subject. High had the largest gains—12 points in ELA and 17 in mathematics—while Elementary’s mathematics fell 5 points even as its ELA rose 3. SchoolDigger’s latest statewide rankings place Middle at the 88th percentile, High at the 84th, and Elementary at the 56th; over three years, Middle rose 15 percentile points, High rose 6, and Elementary fell 5. Middle has the highest student–teacher ratio, 13.1, while Elementary’s is 10.1; their free/reduced-lunch rates are 49% and 51%, respectively, observations that do not explain the results. Chronic absenteeism is below the state’s 18% at all three schools, ranging from 9% at High to 17% at Elementary. All-grades results cover different grade spans, so grade-specific comparisons offer a more direct school-to-state comparison.