Schools · Columbus

Columbus, IN schools

Columbus’s public schools score above Indiana’s averages: 45% of students are proficient in reading against 42.6% statewide, and 87% of high schoolers graduate on time against 90.9%. Kids attend one of 8 schools through grade 6, then Northside Middle School or Central Middle School and Columbus North High School or Columbus East High School.

Grades, test scores, graduation, spending and every school, from U.S. Department of Education data.

TownTapestry School GradeNew

Columbus’s School Grade: B-

The public schools Columbus’s kids attend, from kindergarten through graduation, outperform 51% of Indiana’s districts on state tests and graduation. Among towns with similar incomes, they sit near the middle.

BTest scoresDGraduation
Indiana school districts we grade (390)Better than 51%
Lower resultsHigher results
Indiana towns with similar household incomes (1,082)Better than 37%
Towns in Bartholomew County (12)Better than 0%
High confidence. Built on 5,796 tested students and a graduating class of 836; ordinary year-to-year swings are unlikely to change the grade.
How the School Grade works
  • Results, not inputs. Math and reading proficiency on Indiana’s state tests, each against the state average, plus the four-year graduation rate. Spending and class size are shown below but don’t count toward the grade. Tests: 2020–21; graduation: class of 2020.
  • The whole path. A town’s grade follows its kids: every district that serves it, weighted by the number of students tested in each. Tests count 60% and graduation 40%.
  • Graded within the state. Each state writes its own tests, so districts are lined up against the rest of Indiana only. A+ top 5%A next 10%A- next 10%B B+ to B−, next 30%C C+ to C−, next 30%D D and D−, bottom 15%
  • Individual schools are graded the same way on their own test results, against every public school in Indiana with 25+ students. Private schools aren’t graded: they don’t take the state tests.
  • What a grade can’t tell you. Test results track family income closely, so a high grade partly reflects who lives in a town. That’s why we also compare towns with similar incomes. Visit, ask other parents, and read neighbor reviews. It’s our own summary of U.S. Department of Education data, not an official rating.
School path

Where Columbus kids go to school

Grades PK–6
8 schoolsDepends on your address · see the list Bartholomew County School Corporation

Based on district boundaries from the U.S. Department of Education. Check with the district before you enroll.

Test scores · 2020–21

Above the state in reading

Reading (grades PK–12, Bartholomew County School Corporation)45%
State average 42.6%
Math (grades PK–12, Bartholomew County School Corporation)38%
State average 35.8%
Graduation · class of 2020

87% graduate on time

Graduation rate
87%
IN: 90.9%
Graduating class
836
students

The share of students who started ninth grade together and earned a regular diploma within four years.

Districts

The district serving Columbus

Each district’s own page has its spending, test scores, enrollment and every school.

Within reach

Colleges near Columbus

There’s no college in Columbus, but 1 college is within 30 miles. The closest is Franklin College in Franklin, 19.9 miles away.

Straight-line distance from the center of Columbus. Degree-granting colleges with students on campus.

Every school

All 20 schools in Columbus

Showing 1–20 of 20 schools
📚
Southside Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades PK–6 · 891 students
APublic
📚
Parkside Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades PK–6 · 733 students
B+Public
📚
Clifty Creek Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades PK–6 · 705 students
C-Public
📚
Lillian Schmitt Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades PK–6 · 704 students
C-Public
📚
W D Richards Elementary SchoolElementary · Grades PK–6 · 610 students
BPublic
📚
L F Smith ElementaryElementary · Grades PK–6 · 420 students
C+Public
📚
CSA Lincoln CampusElementary · Grades K–6 · 357 students
APublic
📚
CSA Fodrea CampusElementary · Grades PK–6 · 351 students
C+Public
🎓
St. Peter's Lutheran SchoolElementary · Grades K–8 · 418 students
Private
🎓
St. Bartholomew SchoolElementary · Grades K–8 · 385 students
Private
🎓
North Star Montessori SchoolElementary · Grades PK–K · 78 students
Private
🎓
St. Paul Lutheran Early Childhood MinistryElementary · Grades PK–K · 50 students
Private
📚
Northside Middle SchoolMiddle · Grades 7–8 · 908 students
B-Public
📚
Central Middle SchoolMiddle · Grades 7–8 · 790 students
C+Public
🏫
Columbus North High SchoolHigh · Grades 9–12 · 2,360 students
A-Public
🏫
Columbus East High SchoolHigh · Grades 9–12 · 1,452 students
B+Public
🏫
Excel Center - Bartholomew CountyHigh · Grades 9–12 · 49 students
Charter
🏫
Columbus Area Career ConnectionHigh · Grades 6–12
Public
📚
Richard L Johnson Early Educ CntrPrekindergarten · Grades PK · 80 students
Public
🎓
Columbus Christian SchoolOther · Grades PK–12 · 423 students
Private

School data from the U.S. Department of Education (NCES). Ratings are from neighbors on TownTapestry.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01