Summary:
Joseph Badger Local is a small, rural Ohio district of 562 students where all three schools share one campus in Kinsman: Badger Elementary School (PK–4, 250 students), Badger Middle School (5–8, 168 students), and Badger High School (9–12, 144 students). The district ranks 294th of 773 (62nd percentile) with 3 stars, and each school also holds 3 stars.
All three schools are solidly above the state average, but they shine differently. Badger Elementary School is the clearest improver, climbing 46 → 58 → 61 in rank percentile over three years — the only steady upward trend — with the district's lowest chronic absenteeism (14.6%) and above-state results on all four of its 2025-26 tests. Badger High School posts the strongest absolute scores: Biology 91.4%, American Government 88.5%, American History 84.8%, English II 82.5%, and a 95.8% graduation rate, though its percentile has swung (78 → 56 → 64). Badger Middle School holds the single highest score in the district — Algebra I at 94.4%, roughly 33 points above the state — plus Math 6 at 71.1% and ELA 5 at 76%. Across the district, 17 of 21 tests (81%) beat the state in 2025-26.
The main concern is math: students outperform the state in math through grade 7, then drop sharply at grade 8 (31.3%, 20.7 points below state) and in high school Algebra I (23.1%, 38.5 points below). Social studies (+14.3), ELA (+8.2), and science (+8.1) all beat state comfortably, while math is roughly flat (+0.2). Badger High School also has 31.4% chronic absenteeism — more than twice the elementary school's — even as its academics remain strong. Note that free/reduced-lunch data is not reported, several grade-level cohorts are very small, and per-pupil spending figures date to 2018-19.
Thank you for your feedback!