Summary:
Zip code 42320 has two public elementary schools—Beaver Dam Elementary School and Southern Elementary School—both serving prekindergarten through grade 6 in Ohio County. Their 2025–2026 results show strengths and weaknesses that vary by subject and grade, rather than one school leading in everything. The clearest overall difference is in math: Southern averaged 54% proficient across grades 3–6, compared with 39% at Beaver Dam and 43% statewide.
Southern stands out in current math and reading, while Beaver Dam has a notable editing-and-mechanics strength. Southern’s grades 3–5 reading average was 54%, versus Beaver Dam’s 46% and the state’s 50%; its grade-4 science score was 48%, compared with 40% at both Beaver Dam and statewide. The schools’ clearest shared shortfall is grade-5 writing: Beaver Dam scored 24% and Southern 32%, below the state’s 35%. Beaver Dam, however, led in grade-5 editing and mechanics at 70%, compared with Southern’s 59% and the state’s 48%. SchoolDigger ranked Southern 215th of 684 schools (69th percentile) and Beaver Dam 350th (49th percentile) in 2025–2026.
Recent changes were mixed, so neither school shows a consistent upward trend across subjects. From 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, Beaver Dam’s average rose 35 points in editing and mechanics but fell 3 points in math and 4 points in reading; Southern’s math and reading averages rose 2 and 3 points, while social studies fell 25 points. SchoolDigger’s rankings also shifted differently depending on the years compared: from 2024–2025, Beaver Dam rose from the 43rd to 49th percentile, while Southern moved from the 74th to 69th. In 2024–2025, free/reduced-lunch-eligible shares were similar—66% at Beaver Dam and 65% at Southern—and student-teacher ratios were 17.6 and 14.7, respectively; these are context, not explanations for score differences. Southern’s grade-6 reading result was suppressed by the state and cannot be compared.
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