Horizon Science Academy Lorain

Horizon Science Academy Lorain is a standalone K–12 charter school in Lorain, OH — its own single-school district — serving 839 students, about 78% of whom are economically disadvantaged. It is the largest school in this comparison set, and it has no truly local peer: Clara E Westropp School is 17.9 miles away in Cleveland and Albert Einstein Academy for Letters Arts and Sciences-Ohio is 18.3 miles away in Strongsville, so comparisons below come with that distance in mind.

The school's clearest strengths are attendance and graduation. Chronic absenteeism has fallen every year on record, from a peak of 33.8% in 2022–23 to 25.9% in 2025–26 — roughly half of Westropp's 52.9% and well below Einstein's 37.0%. Its graduation rate has never dropped below 94.4% in five years shown, including two years at 100%, compared with 90.6% for Einstein. Academically, social studies is a genuine bright spot: American Government proficiency has been above the state every year in the data (74.4 vs. 71.6 in 2025–26), and 8th grade math reached 63.1, above the state's 52.0. 8th grade science has climbed steadily from 26.5 to 50.8 over four years.

The persistent weakness sits in grades 3 through 7, especially math. Fourth grade math was 18.8 against a state average of 67.3 — the biggest single gap in the school's profile — and 3rd through 7th grade math results cluster in the low-to-mid 20s, 30 to 48 points below the state. High school math tells a similar story: Algebra I proficiency was 49.2 and Geometry 33.3, both below state, so a near-universal graduation rate is not matched by on-grade-level math mastery. Einstein has almost the same average gap to the state but the opposite profile — strong in early grades, weak in high school. A few caveats: 2024–25 economically disadvantaged data is suppressed (unknown, not zero), spending figures date to 2018–19, and single-grade results at this size can swing 10–15 points year to year.