Best High Schools in Zip Code 45801

ZIP code 45801 in northwestern Ohio contains four high schools — Lima Senior High School, Bath High School, West Central Learning Academy II and Bath Digital Academy — serving a combined 1,515 students in grades 9–12, with Bath Digital serving grades 10–12. Enrollment is highly concentrated: Lima Senior enrolls 1,004 students (66.3%) and Bath High 437 (28.8%), together accounting for 95.1% of the area's high school students, while West Central Learning Academy II (67 students) and Bath Digital Academy (7 students) are very small. The district context mirrors the school-level split: Bath Local ranks 84 of 773 districts, in the 89th percentile with 4 stars, while Lima City ranks 579 of 773, in the 25th percentile with 1 star.

Bath High School is the clear standout: a 4-star district and school rating, a 2025–26 school rank in the 83rd percentile, a 97.6% graduation rate, 11.5% chronic absenteeism, and proficiency above the state in all six reported 2025–26 End-of-Course subjects. Lima Senior is the largest school and the lowest performing of the large schools: 1 star, a 2025–26 rank in the 12th percentile, a 77.9% graduation rate, 52.6% chronic absenteeism (13.3 points above its district rate), and proficiency below the state in all six 2025–26 subjects. The contrast is stark — Bath High's lowest 2025–26 subject, Geometry at 58.9%, is higher than Lima Senior's best, American Government at 57.8%. There is some positive momentum at Lima Senior, which improved in Biology (+12.1 points), Algebra I (+9.8), American History (+2.0), Geometry (+1.9) and English II (+1.6) year over year, though it remains far below state averages.

Among the small schools, West Central Learning Academy II reports the highest school-level chronic absenteeism (55.6%) and a 76.3% graduation rate; in 2024–25 it was below the state in every reported subject, with its best, American History at 50%, still below the state's 71.2%. Bath Digital Academy has only 7 students, shares Bath Local's 4-star district rating, and reports no graduation rate or test scores; its 2022–23 school-level absenteeism of 71.1% is dated and not comparable to the 2025–26 district rate of 11.3%. Notably, Lima Senior spends slightly more per student ($10,168 vs. $9,807 in 2018–19 data) and has a nearly identical student–teacher ratio (14.9 vs. 14.5), so resources alone do not explain the performance gap. Free/reduced lunch is reported only for Bath High, at 35.7%, so poverty-adjusted comparisons across these schools are not possible.