Valley Local

Valley Local is a mid-sized Ohio district serving roughly 1,023 students across three schools — Valley Elementary School (PK–4), Valley Middle School (5–8), and Valley High School (9–12) — with no alternative school. The district overall ranks 357 of 773 statewide, placing it at the 54th percentile with 3 stars, but that average hides real differences among the three schools.

Valley Middle School is the academic standout, ranking 386 of 1,046 (63rd percentile, 3 stars) and scoring above the state in 8 of 10 tested subjects and grades; 8th grade math sits at 70.4% proficient versus the state's 52.0%. It also has the district's highest chronic absenteeism at 18.0%. Valley High School graduates 98.7% of its students and beats the state in American History, Biology, English II, Algebra I, and American Government — but Geometry is a glaring exception at 23.2% proficient versus 43.3% statewide. Valley Elementary School is the largest school with 442 students and the one to watch: its rank fell from the 72nd percentile and 4 stars in 2023–24 to the 49th percentile and 2 stars in 2025–26, and 4th grade math dropped from 87.0% to 64.0% year over year.

Rank trends point in different directions: elementary fell from the 72nd to the 49th percentile, middle slipped from the 73rd to the 63rd, and high school rose from the 46th to the 55th. Resources differ as well — the high school spends the most per student ($9,518) and has the smallest classes (13.2 students per teacher), while elementary has the highest need (55.2% free/reduced lunch) and the largest classes (21:1). The most actionable concerns are elementary's downward trend, the high school's Geometry gap, and middle school's chronic absenteeism.