Roy E Holmes Elementary School, Wilmington OH

Original Research by School Decision on Roy E Holmes Elementary School

Roy E Holmes Elementary School serves kindergarten through second grade in Wilmington, a small Ohio county seat anchored by Quaker heritage, Wilmington College, and a growing logistics economy at the nearby air park. The school enrolls a mixed-income student body of about this size, with roughly a two-thirds share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The student composition is predominantly white, with smaller shares of students who identify as multiracial, Hispanic, Black, and Asian.

The most recent state testing data available comes from 2017-18, when students in grades three through five (who would have passed through Holmes' early grades) were tested in math, English language arts, science, and social studies. On math proficiency, the school's results ranged from the high fifties to mid-sixties across grades three, four, and five. English language arts showed lower proficiency, ranging from the mid-forties in third grade to the high fifties in fifth grade. In science and social studies, where limited data is available, proficiency ran higher: fifth graders in science achieved proficiency in the low-to-mid sixties, and fourth graders in social studies surpassed that mark substantially. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index falls below the midpoint among the county's districts, placing it in a lower band of performance relative to other schools in Clinton County.

The school operates within Wilmington City Schools, a district that has navigated significant recent fiscal pressure. The district's operating revenue declined substantially when a longstanding income tax levy expired at the end of 2022 and voters rejected replacement levies in two successive elections, costing the district millions in expected annual funding. This sparked planning for major cuts to transportation, staffing, and programs. In January 2024, however, the board pulled a proposed levy from the ballot after learning that rising property valuations had pushed the district below Ohio's 20-mill floor threshold, a change that means property taxes for district homeowners will now grow along with home values rather than staying flat. The board also reversed its planned service cuts. Families considering the school should understand that the district faced real budget strain and that operating revenue remains tighter than it was several years prior, though the structural property tax adjustment provided some relief.

Wilmington itself is a walkable downtown with locally owned shops and restaurants, and sits within reach of state parks and outdoor recreation. The air park's recent recovery—following DHL's departure and Amazon Air's arrival—has spurred residential growth; multiple new subdivisions and builders are active in the area. Housing values in the Wilmington zip code align slightly below state averages. The school's elementary grades serve students in a period before state testing begins, so their academic trajectory will become visible as students advance into the grades where proficiency is measured.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 369%

School 69% · district not reported

▲ 7 pts above state median

Grade 460%

School 60% · district not reported

▼ 5 pts below state median

Grade 560%

School 60% · district not reported

▲ 19 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 348%

School 48% · district not reported

▼ 11 pts below state median

Grade 454%

School 54% · district not reported

▼ 4 pts below state median

Grade 557%

School 57% · district not reported

▼ 8 pts below state median

Science

Grade 570%

School 70% · district not reported

▲ 8 pts above state median

Social studies

Grade 476%

School 76% · district not reported

▼ 7 pts below state median

This schoolWilmington City, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income42%Higher-income60%18 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income50%Higher-income67%17 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income53%Higher-income67%14 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income69%Higher-income68%1 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income52%Higher-income83%31 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income56%Higher-income67%10 pp gap