Summary:
Zip code 48471 is home to a single elementary school, Sandusky Elementary School, which serves students in grades PK through 6 and is part of the Sandusky Community School District.
For parents considering this area, the most important takeaway is that Sandusky Elementary shows a clear pattern of strong early-grade performance that fades by upper elementary. In the most recent school year, 3rd graders significantly outpaced state averages, with 58% proficient in English Language Arts (ELA) versus 38.2% statewide, and 58.6% proficient in math versus 42.9% statewide. However, by 5th grade, proficiency drops dramatically—only 17.2% of students are proficient in math (state: 32.2%) and 32.8% in ELA (state: 43.8%). This roughly 30-percentage-point swing relative to the state between 3rd and 5th grade math is the school's most striking weakness. 6th graders recover somewhat in ELA (46.3% vs. 37.5% state) but remain slightly below average in math. The school's overall state ranking has slipped from the 60th percentile in 2023-2024 to the 51st percentile in 2025-2026, reflecting this upper-grade decline.
On a positive note, the school excels in attendance: its chronic absenteeism rate is just 14.9%, far better than the district's 23.9% and the state's 27.9%, even though over half of students (53.93%) qualify for free or reduced lunch. The student-teacher ratio is a reasonable 15.4 to 1, and per-student spending is substantial at $16,524. However, that high spending does not translate into above-average overall results, as the school sits right at the 50th percentile statewide. Since Sandusky Elementary is the only school in its district serving these grades, its test scores are identical to the district's. Parents should weigh the school's excellent early-grade instruction and strong attendance culture against the concerning drop-off in 4th and 5th grade proficiency, particularly in math, when making decisions about this area.
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