Best Public Schools in Zip Code 44054

ZIP code 44054 contains six schools serving students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade — four elementary, one middle, and one high school — with five belonging to Sheffield-Sheffield Lake City and the sixth, Sheffield Academy, operating as its own district. Total enrollment is 1,643 students, about 88.6% of them (1,455) in the district schools and 188 at Sheffield Academy. The largest schools are Brookside Intermediate School (416) and Brookside High School (415); the smallest is Forestlawn Early Learning Center (163).

The district schools generally rank higher than Sheffield Academy. Sheffield-Sheffield Lake City is ranked 377 of 773, at the 51st percentile with 3 stars, while Sheffield Academy is 505 of 773, at the 35th percentile with 2 stars. Brookside High School stands out with a 98.2% graduation rate and End-of-Course scores mostly above the state — American Government 84.9% vs. 71.6%, English II 72.3% vs. 62.7%, Biology 76.0% vs. 67.0% — though Algebra I lags at 55.7%. Brookside Middle School is strong in math and science but has slipped from 82nd percentile and 4 stars in 2023-24 to 56th percentile and 3 stars in 2025-26. Brookside Intermediate School is above state in every math grade tested in 2025-26 but below state in every ELA grade. Sheffield Academy is improving by rank (24th to 42nd percentile) with a 4th Grade ELA score of 84.2% vs. state 61.8%, but 5th Grade ELA is 50% vs. 70.4%.

Absenteeism varies dramatically. Knollwood Elementary School has the lowest rate at 10.4%, well below the district average of 24.1%, while Brookside Intermediate is 22.1%, Brookside Middle 26.4%, Forestlawn 28.9%, and Brookside High 29.5%. Sheffield Academy is the extreme outlier at 58.5% — more than double the district average. Knollwood (grades 1–2) and Forestlawn (PK–K) have no state test data, and Sheffield Academy's free/reduced-lunch rate is not reported, so ZIP-wide academic comparisons remain partial. Forestlawn reports the highest per-student spending at $12,399, though that 2018-19 figure is too old to support current conclusions.