Summary:
Zip code 44609 covers Beloit, Ohio, and contains exactly one middle school: West Branch Middle School, which serves 627 students in grades 3 through 7 as part of the West Branch Local district. Because it is the only middle school in the area, the most useful comparisons are against the state of Ohio and against its own district, and on both it comes out well ahead.
West Branch Middle School ranks 106th out of 1,046 Ohio schools for 2025-2026 — the top 10% of the state, with 4 stars. That is a substantial climb from 245th two years earlier, a gain of 139 rank positions and a move from the 77th to the 90th percentile. Test scores beat the state average in all 22 tests across the last two school years. Mathematics is the standout: averages run about 24 points above the state, with 6th grade math at 86.0% versus a state figure of 56.2%. English Language Arts is also strong, averaging roughly 13 points above the state, though the margins are smaller. One quirk worth noting: in 7th grade the usual pattern flips, with ELA at 80.1% ahead of math at 72.2% — the clearest soft spot in the data, along with 5th grade and early-grade ELA.
Chronic absenteeism is 10.6%, well below the district's 16.1%, a real advantage given how closely attendance tracks with achievement. The school serves a majority economically disadvantaged population, with 55.66% qualifying for free/reduced lunch, and its student-teacher ratio is 15.4 to 1. Per-student spending is listed at $8,914, but that figure is from 2018-2019 and is too old to draw current conclusions from. Overall, this is a top-decile school with improving rankings and consistently above-state results.
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