Arcanum-Butler Local

Arcanum-Butler Local is a small, high-performing Ohio district that ranks 74th of 773 districts statewide — the 90th percentile, with 5 stars — and serves 1,083 students across three schools on one shared campus at 2011 Trojan Ave in Arcanum: Arcanum Elementary School (K–4, 437 students), Butler Middle School (5–8, 321 students), and Arcanum High School (9–12, 325 students). Because each school is the sole provider of its grades, the three schools' results translate almost directly into district results.

All three schools perform well above Ohio averages — every one of the 20 reported test results in 2025-26 beat its state average — but they differ in character. Arcanum Elementary School is the flagship: the only school with 5 stars in all three reported years, in the 90th percentile or better every year, averaging about +22 points over the state across its four tested subjects, and the only school beating the district on attendance (5.4% chronic absenteeism vs. 6.6% district). Arcanum High School is the biggest riser, climbing from the 73rd to the 89th percentile with average End-of-Course proficiency up from roughly 73.6% to 83.0%, plus a 98.8% graduation rate. Butler Middle School is the most consistent — 4 stars and the 84th–88th percentile every year — and posts 100% proficiency in End-of-Course Algebra I two years running, versus state rates of 59.4% and 61.6%, though that is almost certainly a small accelerated group rather than the full 8th-grade math population.

For parents weighing the numbers: attendance is the clearest internal split, with the secondary schools at 7.4% and 7.5% chronic absenteeism, both above the district figure. Student-teacher ratios are tightly clustered (18.5 / 18.7 / 17.2), and per-student spending from 2018-19 rises with grade level, from $8,490 to $9,961. Note that spending data is roughly seven years older than the test results, and the elementary and middle schools' free/reduced-lunch figures are not reported.