Summary
Garfield Heights High School is a grades 9–12 public high school in Garfield Heights, Ohio, near Cleveland, serving about 942 students as part of Garfield Heights City Schools. It ranks near the bottom of Ohio high schools (12th percentile, 1 star), and the district is ranked 720th of 773 districts. Its clearest strength is graduation: 92.3% in 2025–2026, up from 86.9% in 2021–2022. However, chronic absenteeism has risen from 58.5% to 74.4%, above the district’s 61.9%.
Academically, Garfield Heights is below the state average in all six reported End-of-Course subjects. Geometry is the most severe weakness: 9.6% proficient versus 43.3% statewide, and it has stayed between 7.2% and 10.4% for four years. English II is also a major concern at 28.7%, down from 43.9%, while Biology is 37.0% and Algebra I is 33.2%. There are bright spots: Algebra I rose sharply from 15.1% to 33.2%, and American Government improved to 61.4%. Compared with nearby schools, Garfield trails Shaker Hts High School, Cuyahoga Hts High School (a 5-star, 93rd-percentile school 1.45 miles away), and T2 Honors Academy, but it generally outperforms the most struggling alternatives such as John Adams College & Career Academy, John F Kennedy High School, North Shore High School, Gateway Online Academy of Ohio, Southern Cleveland Drop Back Indba Innovative Career Academy, and Pathfinder Career Academy of Ohio. It is roughly comparable to Maple Heights High School, though Maple Heights has a higher graduation rate and lower absenteeism.
Chronic absenteeism remains the biggest non-test warning sign: at 74.4%, it is far above the district rate and much higher than Shaker Hts High School (29.4%) or Cuyahoga Hts High School (8.5%). Subgroup results are uneven: low-income, special education, male, and female students rank at or below the school’s overall 12th percentile, and the gifted and talented subgroup ranked last among 244 reporting schools in 2024–2025. The student–teacher ratio was 15.7 in 2024–2025, down from 18.6. For parents, the school’s most urgent needs are mathematics and English proficiency, attendance, and targeted support for low-income, special education, and gifted students.
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