The top reported proficiency rate is 75% in English language arts. The lowest is 0% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Smart Academy
SMART Academy is a small charter school serving kindergarten through fourth grade in Garfield Heights, a working- and middle-class Cleveland suburb. The school enrolls about eighty students, the vast majority of whom qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is predominantly Black, with smaller numbers of Hispanic and multiracial students; no Asian or white students are currently enrolled.
On state testing, SMART Academy's results are mixed. In English language arts, proficiency among third and fourth graders tested reached a solid rate. Math proficiency was somewhat lower. Science results, however, showed no students meeting proficiency standards on the state assessment, though a smaller group participated in science testing and scale scores suggest students were not far below the performance threshold. The school tested nearly all eligible students, showing strong participation. Overall proficiency across tested subjects places the school below the midpoint among the county's districts.
The school serves a neighborhood with modest median home values and rental costs below the Ohio state benchmark. Housing values have declined slightly year-over-year, while rental costs have climbed modestly. Garfield Heights itself is experiencing active development, including a major county services campus project and commercial revitalization along Transportation Boulevard and the I-77 corridor. The city's major employers include Cleveland Clinic Marymount Hospital, county offices, and light manufacturing and logistics firms; civic life centers on a Turney Road spine with the library, recreation center with indoor skating, and parks including a newer 45-acre addition. Auto-oriented layout and industrial zoning mean walkability is limited outside the civic district.
No data was available on the school's graduation rate, attendance patterns, staffing, discipline, or special-population support (English learner or special education counts and rates). These gaps partly reflect the school's K-4 grade band, which is tested but does not yield graduation or secondary-pathway data. For a parent evaluating this school, those questions about student support systems and any approach to early literacy or math intervention would be worth asking directly of the school.
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