Summary:
ZIP code 45801 in Lima, Ohio, contains two middle-level schools serving 738 students combined: Bath Middle School (grades 6–8, 417 students) in Bath Local, and Lima North Middle School (grades 5–6, 321 students) in Lima City. They share a ZIP code but sit in different districts and serve different grade spans, so 6th grade is the only true head-to-head comparison. Their results are nearly opposite.
Bath Middle School is a 4-star school ranked 130th of 1,046 Ohio middle schools (88th percentile), and it has stayed in the top 14% of the state for three straight years. It beat the Ohio average in all 16 subject-and-grade comparisons reported across two years, by margins of 11 to 38 points, and posted 100% proficiency on the Algebra I end-of-course exam in both years. Its 8th grade improved notably in math, ELA and science. Chronic absenteeism is 12.7%, low overall and only slightly above its district's 11.3%.
Lima North Middle School's district, Lima City, ranks 579th of 773 districts (25th percentile) with 1 star. Lima North scored below the state average in all 10 reported tests and below its own district average in all 10, and its scores fell in every subject year over year. Chronic absenteeism is 50.5%, roughly four times Bath's and well above the district's 39.3%. In the one comparable grade, 6th, the proficiency gap is about 52 points in math and 55 in ELA — stable across both years. Notably, Lima North spends more per student and has smaller classes than Bath, showing inputs alone don't predict outcomes. Lima North also has no rank, star rating or free/reduced-lunch figure reported, which limits comparison.
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