South Scioto Academy

South Scioto Academy is a K–8 charter school on Columbus's south side, at 2200 Winslow Dr, serving 224 students as its own single-school district and ranked 477th of 773 Ohio districts (38th percentile, 2 stars). Most nearby options are either Columbus City Schools District buildings or small charter schools, and of the ten comparison schools, nine fall between the 3rd and 23rd percentile statewide — the exception being Montrose Elementary School in Bexley City, an affluent outlier at the 94th percentile.

The school's long-term trajectory is its headline story. A decade ago it sat in the bottom 3% of Ohio; today it holds a sustained 30th–50th percentile band, peaking at 51st percentile with 3 stars in 2024–25. It does this on $5,070 per student, less than half the $11K–$12.7K spent by nearby Columbus City buildings such as Watkins Elementary School, Moler Elementary School and Fairwood Alternative Elementary School — all of which it outranks. Its special education students rank at the 85th–86th percentile, and its low-income students rose from the 38th to the 61st percentile in two years, both well above the school's overall standing.

The biggest concern is attendance: 66.1% of students were chronically absent in 2025–26, up from 61.3% five years earlier and second-highest in the comparison set, versus 4.3% at Montrose. Academically, math and science are strengths — 4th-grade math 88.2, 5th-grade science 84.2 and 7th-grade math 76.2 all beat the state — while upper-grade English language arts is the clear weak point, with 7th grade at 33.3 and 8th grade at 24.0 against state figures of 62.7 and 58.3. Compared with nearby K–8 schools such as Berwick Alternative K-8 School and South Columbus Preparatory Academy at Southfield, South Scioto posts the strongest 7th- and 8th-grade math and 8th-grade science. Because each grade holds roughly 25 students, single-year swings should be read cautiously; the multi-year patterns are what to trust.