Summary:
ZIP code 45419, a suburban pocket of Dayton, Ohio, contains seven public schools — five elementary, one middle and one high school — serving roughly 2,931 students, but those students attend three very different districts: Oakwood City (top 2% of Ohio districts, 5 stars), Kettering City School District (77th percentile, 4 stars) and Dayton City (6th percentile, 0 stars). Few ZIP codes anywhere put one of the state's strongest school communities within about a mile of one of its weakest.
The Oakwood schools post the best numbers. Oakwood Junior High School ranks 12th of 1,046 middle schools statewide, with 100% proficiency in Algebra I and Geometry two years running, the lowest chronic absenteeism of any secondary school here (4.8%) and the smallest classes (11.8 students per teacher). Oakwood High School ranks 12th of 795 high schools with a 98.8% graduation rate. Harman Elementary School (52nd of 1,560) has the lowest absenteeism in the ZIP at 1.7%, and Smith Elementary School (46th of 1,560) improved in 7 of 9 tests. The Kettering schools are the best "beat-the-odds" story: Orchard Park Elementary School sits at the 87th percentile despite 48.98% free/reduced-price lunch, and Beavertown Elementary School (70th percentile) has 55% FRPL — both still beat state proficiency in every subject reported. Horace Mann Elementary School ranks lowest in the ZIP (18th percentile, 1 star) and is the only school below state proficiency in every subject, yet it outperforms its own Dayton City district averages in all 9 reported tests and has far lower absenteeism (28.2% vs. 43.8%).
Two cautions for parents: absenteeism climbs steadily through the Oakwood pipeline (1.7% at Harman, 4.8% at the junior high, 13.3% at the high school), and per-pupil spending figures date to 2018-19, with poverty data not reported for three buildings.
Thank you for your feedback!