Western Reserve Local Schools earned an overall 4-star rating on the 2025-2026 Ohio School Report Card, the district’s highest overall rating to date. But the story behind the numbers began long before this year’s results were released.
Over the past four years, we’ve worked as a community to strengthen the student experience, raise expectations, and expand opportunities. This year’s results give us an opportunity to reflect on our growth and see how years of intentional work are taking shape across the district.
High School Continues Multi-Year Climb
The High School reached a 4.5-star overall rating this year, continuing a trajectory from 3.5 stars in 2022–2024 to 4 stars in 2024–2025. The results reflect growth not only in academic achievement, but also in how well students are progressing and preparing for what comes after graduation.
That growth is reflected across several key areas:
Progress: The High School earned 5 stars in Progress, placing it among the top 10.2% of high schools statewide for academic growth.
College and Career Readiness: The College, Career, Workforce and Military Readiness rating increased from 2 stars to 4 stars, reflecting continued growth in preparing students for opportunities beyond high school.
Graduation: The High School maintained its 5-star Graduation Rate.
Achievement: Academic Achievement increased to 4 stars, a rating earned by 13.8% of high schools statewide.
Middle School Shows Strong Gains
Our Middle School delivered notable growth this year, achieving a 4.0-Star Overall Rating, a significant rise from its 2.5-star mark three years ago. Building accomplishments include:
Top-Tier Gap Closing: Reached a 5.0-Star Rating in Gap Closing, reflecting effective academic support for all student subgroups.
Progress Tracking Surge: Raised its Progress Monitoring rating from 1 star up to 4 stars.
Elementary School Strengthens Key Measures
The elementary school maintained its 3-star overall rating this year, with encouraging movement in both Gap Closing and Early Literacy. Just as importantly, the results give us a clear picture of where progress is taking hold and where we need to dedicate our energy next.
Gap Closing: The Elementary School earned 4 stars in Gap Closing.
Early Literacy: The rating increased to 3 stars, reflecting continued focus on building strong literacy foundations in the early grades.
The Work Continues
This year’s report card gives us plenty to celebrate, but it also helps us see where to focus our energy next. At the Elementary School, that means additional intervention support and tools to closely monitor progress in reading and math. Across the district, we’ll continue strengthening instructional practices while looking for opportunities to build on the approaches that are showing success in our secondary buildings.
As we reflect on how far we’ve come, we also know this progress belongs to more than any one classroom, building or school year. It has taken teachers and staff who continue to raise the bar, students who rise to meet it, families who support the work, a Board that has invested in the district’s direction, and a community that continues to believe in Western Reserve.
To every person who has invested their time, trust, energy, and support in our schools, we thank you. You are part of this story and part of what continues to move Western Reserve forward.
The work isn’t finished. There will always be more to learn, more to strengthen and new places to focus our energy.
This is #WeR. Inspiring more. Achieving more. Becoming more.