Summary:
ZIP code 44643 (Magnolia, Ohio) is home to exactly one middle school, Sandy Valley Middle School, which serves roughly 263 students in grades 6 through 8 as part of the Sandy Valley Local district. Because there is only one middle school here, there is no second school to compare against; the most useful comparisons are the school against its own district and against Ohio state averages. The school has a student–teacher ratio of 15.4 and has earned a 3-star state rating in each of the last three years.
The school's main strengths are in math and English. In 2025–2026, 7th-grade math proficiency reached 67.4% (state 48.6%) and 8th-grade math 68.4% (state 52.0%) — roughly 17–19 points above the state. All three ELA grades also beat the state: 6th grade 62.6% vs. 56.0%, 7th 70.6% vs. 62.7%, and 8th 61.4% vs. 58.3%. Algebra I is the headline number at 86.7% proficient, far above the state's 61.6%, though it reflects a small, accelerated group of students rather than the typical 8th grader. Chronic absenteeism, at 15.8%, is 4.1 points lower than the district's 19.9%, and the school ranks in the 63rd percentile — noticeably ahead of the district's 48th percentile and 2-star rating.
Two areas deserve attention. Eighth-grade science fell 16.6 points in a year, from 61.7% to 45.1%, leaving it 16.1 points below the state (61.2%) — the clearest red flag in the data. Sixth-grade math, at 58.1%, edges past the state but trails its own district (62.9%). Also worth noting: the $9,808 per-student spending figure dates to 2018–2019, and the free/reduced-lunch rate is not reported, so neither can be used to judge current resources or student needs.
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