Summary
Southside Academy is a public charter elementary school serving grades K-8 in Youngstown, Ohio, with 173 students. While it is a relatively small school compared to nearby public and charter schools in the area, Southside Academy has consistently ranked in the bottom quartile of Ohio elementary schools over the past decade, with a current statewide ranking of 1075 out of 1558 schools and a 2-star rating from SchoolDigger.
Southside Academy faces significant challenges in terms of student attendance, academic achievement, and performance relative to its peers. The school has struggled with extremely high chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 59.7% to 71.5% over the past few years, which is significantly higher than the state average and the rates of nearby schools. Academically, Southside Academy's performance, as measured by state test proficiency rates, is well below state and local averages across all grade levels and subject areas. For example, in 2024-2025, only 34.8% of 5th graders were proficient in science, compared to the state average of 63.4%. The school's student subgroups, such as female, male, African American, and low socioeconomic status students, have all performed poorly relative to their peers in the state.
Interestingly, Southside Academy's performance lags significantly behind the nearby Horizon Science Academy Youngstown, located just 1.5 miles away, which consistently outperforms Southside Academy on state tests and has a lower chronic absenteeism rate. Despite being a charter school, Southside Academy has not shown meaningful improvement in its performance over the past decade, and the school's statewide ranking and star rating have remained in the bottom quartile, with no clear trajectory of progress. Addressing the underlying issues of high chronic absenteeism and low socioeconomic status of the student population could be crucial for improving Southside Academy's performance and providing a high-quality education for its students.
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