Best Middle Schools in Zip Code 43085

ZIP code 43085 is home to four middle schools — Worthingway Middle School, Perry Middle School, Kilbourne Middle School, and Phoenix Middle School — all part of the Worthington City district. Together they enroll 1,786 students. Worthingway, Perry, and Kilbourne serve grades 6–8, while Phoenix serves grades 7–8 only. Enrollment ranges widely, from Worthingway's 640 students down to Phoenix's 154. The district ranks 169th out of 773 in Ohio, placing it in the 78th percentile with 4 stars.

Phoenix is the highest-ranked school in the ZIP, at the 90th percentile with 5 stars in 2025–26 (and 5 stars in each of the two prior years). It has the lowest student–teacher ratio (10.6), the highest reported per-student spending ($11,067), and top Math 7 (65.2%) and Math 8 (87.3%) scores. Because it serves only grades 7–8 and is much smaller, comparisons with the others aren't perfectly parallel. Kilbourne, at the 88th percentile with 4 stars, is the strongest broad-based 6–8 school, leading the ZIP in most grade-level subjects — including Science 8 (85.9%), Math 6 (79.1%), and ELA 7 (85.5%) — while reporting the lowest spending ($8,503) and a low free/reduced-lunch rate of 16.16%.

Perry has improved steadily, from 59th percentile and 3 stars in 2023–24 to 77th percentile and 4 stars in 2025–26, with strong Algebra I (88.1%) despite the highest free/reduced-lunch rate (44.7%). Worthingway, the largest school, is the lowest-ranked of the four and has the highest chronic absenteeism (17.4%) and student–teacher ratio (14.8); its standout is Algebra I at 100%. Every school beats the state in every reported 2025–26 subject. Absenteeism tracks with rank: Phoenix (11.4%) and Kilbourne (11.1%) are below the district's 15.2%, while Perry (16.3%) and Worthingway (17.4%) are above. Phoenix's free/reduced-lunch rate and Perry's spending are not reported — treat them as unknown, not zero.