The top reported proficiency rate is 21% in English language arts. The lowest is 4% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Valerie Elementary School
Valerie Elementary serves the very early grades through sixth in Dayton, a mid-sized Ohio city where downtown revitalization has drawn investment and population back to the core since the early 2000s. The school sits in a neighborhood context shaped by that larger city arc: walkable historic districts like South Park and the Oregon Historic District anchor downtown, while broader car-dependent residential areas ring outward. The school's student body is predominantly Black, with a small presence of white and multiracial students and very few Hispanic or Asian students. Enrollment is stable at a little over five hundred students spread across pre-kindergarten through sixth grade, with fairly even representation across grades.
The school faces significant academic headwinds. On the most recent state tests, proficiency rates across grades three through six are very low across every measured subject. In English language arts, about one in five students scored at proficient level or above. In mathematics, that rate drops to about one in six. Science proficiency is markedly weaker still, with fewer than one in twenty students meeting the standard. Data on social studies is older (from 2016-17) and shows similarly weak attainment. On the comparison of school-level proficiency across all tested grades and subjects relative to other schools in Montgomery County, Valerie sits in the bottom quartile among its peers. A parent should understand that this school's academic performance is substantially below the median and well below strong performers in the county.
The district itself has recently undertaken systemic work on early reading. Dayton City Schools adopted a new science-of-reading-aligned curriculum called Amplify districtwide, required all teachers to complete training in reading science, and adjusted instructional models in grades one through three. District reporting indicates that third-grade reading proficiency rose between 2022-23 and 2023-24. That shift is still in motion across the district, and whether such an intervention moves results at Valerie in coming years remains to be seen.
For families with high school aged students, a material logistical change took effect in 2025-26: the district no longer provides transportation for grades nine through twelve due to a state budget restriction, leaving parents to arrange rides or pay for RTA bus passes directly. This is a district-level fact that will matter to multi-age households, though Valerie itself serves only elementary grades.
The housing market in Dayton's zip code shows home values notably below the state and national median. Rents are also moderate. The affordability profile suggests that buying or renting near this school is relatively accessible compared to many other regions, and the monthly mortgage or rent burden as a share of income sits below one-quarter.
Valerie is a traditional public elementary school with no specialized mission or magnet designation. It is the kind of neighborhood school that serves walk-able residential blocks. The school provides no visible specialized programs or course access data, suggesting a standard elementary curriculum. Data on staffing, attendance, and discipline are not available. Enrollment is fully tested in language arts and mathematics, and nearly all students in science participated in state assessments, so measurement coverage is thorough. Free-or-reduced-price-lunch rates and special-population counts were not provided, so a reader does not know what share of families qualify for meal support or what proportion of students receive special education or English learner services.
For a family considering Valerie, the central question is whether the school's very low proficiency rates, paired with recent district curriculum work, represent a school in transition or one with deeper structural challenges. The school serves a Black neighborhood student population in a city with deep historical inequities in resource distribution. The district has named early reading as a priority and made measurable district progress. Whether that improvement reaches Valerie, and how quickly, would be worth asking the school and district directly, especially given the gap between Valerie's current results and the county median.
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