Original Research by School Decision on Big Walnut High School
Big Walnut High School sits in Sunbury, a small city on the northeastern edge of the Columbus metro that has nearly doubled in population over the past span of years and shifted from village to city status in 2021. The school is a regular public high school serving grades nine through twelve, part of the Big Walnut Local School District, which also serves the nearby town of Galena. The high school itself is new, having opened in 2022 as a modern, full-sized facility built to handle the district's rapid enrollment growth.
The school enrolls a student body of about mid-sized proportions for its grade band, with modest economic diversity. About one in six students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The demographic makeup is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Hispanic, multiracial, Asian, and Black students. The specific counts for students with individualized education plans and English learners were not available in the data.
In the most recent state testing data available, Big Walnut High School shows uneven academic performance across subjects. Students showed strong proficiency in English language arts and social studies, with about four out of five students meeting state benchmarks in each. Science proficiency was also solid, with about four in five meeting standards. Mathematics proficiency, however, lags notably; about one in two students met the state benchmark. A parent may want to look into the school's math support offerings and instructional approach in that subject when considering enrollment. State testing data on graduation rates and chronic absenteeism were not available, so a fuller picture of student completion and engagement would require conversations with the school directly.
The school opened as part of a major district facilities expansion. Prairie Run Elementary also opened in 2020, and both buildings were designed to accommodate the steep enrollment growth happening in Sunbury and Galena. The new high school is described publicly as one of the largest in Ohio, with modern academic and athletic facilities. For families moving into the area, this newness matters: it means up-to-date buildings, newer equipment, and a campus built from the ground up rather than adapted over decades. At the same time, the district adjusted elementary attendance boundaries effective in the 2025-26 school year, using State Route 36/37 as the dividing line, so where a family lives determines school assignment.
Sunbury itself has shifted rapidly from a quiet bedroom community to a city experiencing active industrial and commercial development. Japanese auto-parts suppliers serving Honda of America, Amazon Web Services' major data center investment on the east side, and regional spillover effects from Intel's semiconductor manufacturing project nearby are reshaping the local economy and tax base. Housing values in the area are moderate relative to national benchmarks and substantially above the state average, reflecting both the desirability of the growing market and the influx of new development. The historic downtown anchored by the town square offers walkable civic life, though the school campuses sit on separate sites away from the square, as is typical for suburban schools.
The 2023 Delaware County property reappraisal substantially raised assessed property values in the district, strengthening the property-tax base that funds the schools but also raising tax bills for homeowners. In November 2025 voters approved a bond levy to roughly double the size of the Community Library in Sunbury, adding another property-tax obligation. These are direct, lasting financial impacts for families buying into the district. Big Walnut's academic offering appears to include a full high school program, though the specific breadth of Advanced Placement, dual-credit, or career-pathway programs was not available in the data provided.
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