Original Research by School Decision on Explorers Academy of Science and Technology
Explorers Academy of Science and Technology is a single-school public charter district serving kindergarten through eighth grade in Toledo, with an enrollment of about 250 students. The school opened in 2021 as a tuition-free STEM-focused option for families in the Toledo area, positioning itself as an alternative to traditional district schools.
The enrollment is small and draws heavily from the city's Black community, who make up the large majority of the student body, with smaller shares of Hispanic, white, and multiracial students. The school's enrollment is distributed fairly evenly across the lower grades, with a notable drop in the eighth-grade cohort.
State assessment performance data for the school was not available, which means a parent cannot access Ohio's standard proficiency results to see how students here measure against state or regional benchmarks. Publicly reported evidence suggests performance has run well below state averages in reading, mathematics, and science. This is important context for families considering the school. A parent weighing enrollment should ask the school directly for recent assessment results and growth data, and for details on how the STEM curriculum is structured and supported.
Among Lucas County's districts, the school shows a chronic absenteeism rate above the county median, a soft spot that may warrant conversation with staff about what attendance support looks like and whether any barriers exist for families. Per-pupil spending sits in the middle range, on the lower side of what county districts spend.
The school's STEM focus is its core identity, and for families drawn to that mission and wanting a small-school environment with an explicit science and technology emphasis, it offers a defined pathway. The charter structure also means no tuition and no assigned-boundary enrollment; admission is open to any Toledo-area family. The trade-off, as is often true in newer or alternative schools, is that the track record on academic outcomes is limited and below expectations, so families should approach with eyes open about what the school is still building.
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