Best Public Schools in Valparaiso, IN

The city of Valparaiso, Indiana is home to a diverse school system with 23 schools, including 15 elementary schools, 3 middle schools, and 5 high schools. The majority of these schools (18) belong to the highly-ranked Valparaiso Community Schools district, which is ranked 14th out of 381 districts in the state and has a 5-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Several schools in Valparaiso stand out for their exceptional performance. Memorial Elementary School is ranked 10th out of 1,010 elementary schools in Indiana and has a 5-star rating, with impressive proficiency rates of 80.48% in English Language Arts and 82.94% in Math. Heavilin Elementary School and Benjamin Franklin Middle School also stand out with 5-star ratings and high rankings in the state. At the high school level, Valparaiso High School is ranked 27th out of 431 high schools in Indiana and has a 5-star rating, with a strong 97.6% four-year graduation rate.

While the majority of Valparaiso's schools perform well, there is a noticeable gap in performance between the higher-performing and lower-performing schools, particularly in the Portage Township Schools district, where Paul Saylor Elementary and South Haven Elementary have much lower proficiency rates compared to the top-performing schools. This suggests a correlation between socioeconomic factors and academic performance, as the schools with the highest percentages of free and reduced-price lunch recipients tend to have lower test scores and higher chronic absenteeism rates.