Summary:
Independence Local is a small Ohio district with just three schools serving pre-kindergarten through 12th grade: Independence Primary School (PK–4, 440 students), Independence Middle School (5–8, 299 students), and Independence High School (9–12, 305 students), for about 1,044 students total. The district ranks 44th of 773 Ohio districts, in the 94th percentile, with a 5-star rating — and all three schools also hold 5 stars. Free and reduced-price lunch rates are low and similar across the schools (about 11% to 14%), indicating relatively low poverty across the area.
Independence Middle School is the academic standout, ranked 55th of 1,046 middle schools (95th percentile) with 100% Algebra I proficiency in both years, 8th grade math at 94.0% versus 52.0% statewide, and 7th grade ELA at 94.3% versus 62.7%. Its chronic absenteeism is only 6.4%. Independence Primary School shines in 4th grade, with math at 93.2% and ELA at 89.0% — both far above state — though 3rd grade ELA slipped from 87.5% to 80.8%, still 17.4 points above state, and absenteeism is 6.7%. Independence High School posts a perfect 100% graduation rate and strong American History (91.7%), American Government (89.3%), Biology (87.8%), and English II (86.8%) results, but Geometry (68.7%) and Algebra I (82.2%) lag its other subjects, and absenteeism is 15.5% — more than double the other two schools.
Comparing the three, the middle school has the largest average test-score gap above the state (+26.5 points), ahead of the primary (+21.9) and high school (+21.2). Algebra I proficiency varies sharply by level: 100% at the middle school, 82.2% at the high school, and 88.1% district-wide — likely reflecting advanced middle schoolers taking the course early. Notably, the high school has the highest per-student spending ($17,215, though from 2018–2019) and smallest classes (13.2 students per teacher), yet the highest absenteeism and the district's most relative weaknesses, while the primary school achieves strong results with the lowest spending. Overall, this is a consistently high-performing district whose main watch items are high school absenteeism and geometry/Algebra I results.
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