The top reported proficiency rate is 37% in Science. The lowest is 19% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Longfellow Middle School
Longfellow Middle School serves grades six through eight in Lorain, a mid-sized Lake Erie industrial city with deep working-class and immigrant roots. The school enrolls a student body that is roughly split among Black, Hispanic, and white students, with an additional share of students identifying as multi-racial. Enrollment is stable at around that size for a six-to-eight building in an urban district.
State testing results on Ohio's State Tests show students performing below proficiency across the board. In English language arts, roughly a quarter of tested students reached proficiency. In math, the rate was somewhat lower, with roughly a fifth of tested students proficient. Science performed better in relative terms, with roughly a third of tested students at proficiency; note that science testing involves a smaller participant group. A social studies proficiency result from earlier years is available but trend data is unavailable. When positioned against other schools tested in Lorain County, Longfellow's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile among the county's schools.
These results sit in the context of a district that has faced sustained academic struggle. Lorain City Schools spent roughly a decade under state academic distress oversight, which ended in 2023 when the state dissolved the commission and returned the district to elected-board governance. On the 2024-25 state report card, proficiency rates across the district remained among Ohio's lowest, with reading and math proficiency near those Longfellow reported. The district has just passed its first successful new operating levy in more than a decade, after cuts to teachers and programs; that vote in May 2026 followed a sizable shortfall and makes funds available for restoring counselors, preschool capacity, and middle-school programming like dance.
Parents may want to look into the school's specific support services and intervention structure with staff, as the proficiency data shows students facing real academic gaps. The school's role within broader district improvement efforts, and the staff and resource capacity available now that the levy has passed, are worth discussing directly with the school or district.
Lorain itself is in active waterfront redevelopment, with the city and port authority converting long-vacant industrial riverfront land—the old shipyards and steel sites at the mouth of the Black River—into a mixed-use district. Black River Landing, a downtown civic anchor built on a former steel donation, opened several years ago and now hosts festivals, concerts, and serves as a transit hub. The city is soliciting developers for a new mixed-use harbor district and has seen a pickup in investor interest and new residential construction. Housing in the zip code is modestly priced relative to national benchmarks and has appreciated in the past year. The mortgage cost as a share of median income sits below national norms, making the area relatively affordable for homebuyers, though rent-to-income ratios are close to the national average.
The economic base historically centered on U.S. Steel; today Lorain County anchors on health systems, manufacturing, chemicals, and polymers. Ford's Ohio Assembly Plant in nearby Avon Lake is a major regional employer. Downtown Lorain along Broadway Avenue is walkable in patches, with the library, Palace Theater, and shops within reach; outside downtown, the city is auto-oriented. The district and city have invested in Safe Routes to School pedestrian infrastructure at several elementary buildings as part of an Active Transportation Plan, reflecting ongoing effort to improve walkability.
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