Old Orchard Elementary School

Old Orchard Elementary School is a K–8 school of 414 students at 2402 Cheltenham Rd in Toledo, part of the Toledo City district, and it sits in a pocket of the city where schools a mile or two apart produce very different results. It ranked 1,329th of 1,560 Ohio elementary schools in 2025–26 — 15th percentile, 1 star — and every year on record carries a 1-star rating, with its percentile holding in a narrow band of roughly 15–24 for a decade. That is a long-standing pattern rather than a sudden drop or a turnaround in progress.

Two things stand out for parents. First, English language arts is the clear strength: the school averages 37.7% proficiency in ELA against 18.6% in math, a gap of about 19 points. ELA beats the district average in four of six tested grades, while math trails the district in four of six and sits roughly 39 points below the state average. Grades 3 and 4 post the school's best results, while 7th grade is the low point in both subjects, at 6.7% math proficiency. Second, attendance is trending the wrong way: in 2023–24 the school kept chronic absenteeism 16 points below the district (25.4% vs. 41.4%), but by 2025–26 that advantage had narrowed to under 2 points (38.1% vs. 39.8%).

Comparing nearby schools is the most useful framing. Among neighboring Toledo City K–8s, Old Orchard outperforms Robinson Elementary School, Keyser Elementary School, McKinley STEMM Academy and Discovery Academy — all 0- or 1-star — and roughly ties DeVeaux Elementary School. But two same-district schools close by show a higher ceiling: Grove Patterson Academy Elementary School (0.89 mi) is 4 stars with 7.8% absenteeism, and Elmhurst Elementary School (2.19 mi) is 4 stars with math and ELA averages near 66% and 72%. Ottawa Hills Elementary School (0.94 mi, Ottawa Hills Local) reaches 5 stars. Its strongest single measured result is its African American student subgroup at the 40th percentile with 2 stars — the only 2-star measure in its profile.