The Sandusky Intermediate School

The Sandusky Intermediate School is a public school in Sandusky, Ohio, serving 892 students in grades 3–6 as part of the Sandusky City district. It is a large school — bigger than every nearby elementary, which range from 22 to 536 students — and it sits in a district ranked 671st of 773 Ohio districts (13th percentile, 1 star). The school's most recent rank is 1,280th of 1,560 schools (18th percentile, 1 star), the lowest percentile in its available history, with recent years ranging from 18th to 30th percentile.

In 2025–2026, every reported grade and subject proficiency rate fell below the Ohio state average. Grade 5 science was 31.5% versus 62.7% statewide; grade 5 math 24.2% versus 59.1%; grade 4 math 34.9% versus 67.3%; grade 4 ELA 31.5% versus 61.8%. Averaged across the nine reported results, roughly 37% of students were proficient compared with about 62% statewide. Chronic absenteeism is another defining challenge: 33.5% in 2025–2026 — about one in three students — and it has stayed near 30–33% for five reported years.

Nearby schools with similar grade levels generally outperform. Meadowlawn Elementary School (part of Perkins Local), about 2.2 miles away, serves grades 3–5 and scored higher in every reported subject, with 7.1% chronic absenteeism. Woodlands Elementary School, Danbury Elementary School, Edison Elementary School (formerly Milan Elem), and Margaretta Elementary School also post much higher proficiency and lower absenteeism. Yet class size (15.5 students per teacher) is smaller than at most nearby schools, and per-student spending ($11,537 in 2018–2019) is higher than several, so resources don't appear to be the main limit. The clearest focus areas are attendance, 4th- and 5th-grade math and science, 4th-grade ELA, and support for special education students, whose subgroup rank sits in the 6th percentile with 0 stars.