The top reported proficiency rate is 25% in Science. The lowest is 16% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Citizens Leadership Academy East
Citizens Leadership Academy East is a charter school serving kindergarten through eighth grade in Cleveland's Glenville neighborhood. The school operates as a co-located K-8 campus where elementary and middle school students share a single building, creating a continuous pathway rather than requiring families to transition between separate facilities for elementary and middle grades. The school employs an EL Education (Expeditionary Learning) model, a project-based, hands-on instructional approach designed to integrate inquiry and community engagement across the curriculum.
The school's enrollment is roughly five hundred students, almost exclusively drawn from the neighborhood: nearly all students identify as Black, with a very small number of students of other backgrounds. Free-or-reduced-price lunch status and data on special populations were not available in the reported information, so families wanting that context may want to ask the school directly.
On Ohio's state assessments for grades three through eight, the school's proficiency rates fall well below the county median. In English language arts, a small share of students performed at proficient or above; in math, a similar low share reached that threshold. Science testing reached a higher proficiency rate, though the tested population was much smaller. These results place the school in the bottom quartile of Cuyahoga County districts on overall proficiency. The school has no prior-year state testing data available to show trend, and the data provided does not disclose how these proficiency patterns break down by grade level, so a parent would benefit from asking the school how performance varies across the K-8 span and what supports are in place for students in the lower grades who are not yet tested.
The neighborhood sits on Cleveland's east side. Housing values in the 44108 zip code are substantially below both the state and national benchmarks, and rental prices are modest relative to broader markets. The area is quieter and more residential in character than Downtown or the University Circle cultural district, though it remains part of the urban core with neighborhood commercial corridors. Cleveland itself is experiencing slow growth after decades of decline, with concentrated development in the downtown core and neighborhoods like Ohio City and Tremont, while the broader county continues to trend down.
The school's pedagogical approach, centered on project-based and expeditionary learning, is a deliberate choice that differs from traditional classroom instruction. Families drawn to hands-on, inquiry-driven learning environments would likely find this model purposeful; families preferring more conventional instruction may want to observe classes or ask about how the model is structured across the grade bands. For families in Glenville seeking a K-8 option within their neighborhood without multiple school transitions, the co-located campus structure offers continuity, though the low proficiency results warrant careful conversation with school leadership about instructional intensity, student support systems, and the school's improvement trajectory.
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