The top reported proficiency rate is 98% in Social studies. The lowest is 58% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Ridgedale Elementary School
Ridgedale Elementary School serves children in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Morral, a very small rural village in Marion County, Ohio. The school sits on a rural campus outside town rather than in a traditional downtown setting and is part of Ridgedale Local School District, which spans parts of Marion, Crawford, and Wyandot counties. The district was formed through consolidation of three older district; the name reflects the school's position on a ridge overlooking a valley.
The village itself is agricultural country. The dominant local employer is Morral Companies, a fertilizer manufacturer and agricultural-services firm serving local farming operations. Farmer Boy Ag, a farm-equipment wholesaler, is also headquartered there. The Ridgedale schools function as a major institutional anchor for the surrounding communities. Housing values in the area are below the state benchmark, making the region more affordable than most of Ohio, though the local property tax picture includes a school district earned-income tax that parents should account for in household budgeting.
Ridgedale Elementary's enrollment is small, with roughly equal numbers across grades, though the school draws a substantively higher share of students from families with incomes low enough to qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is predominantly white, with very small numbers of students from other racial and ethnic backgrounds. Data on special education enrollment and English learners was not available.
In state testing for grades three through five, the school's proficiency on the recent Ohio State Tests shows a split picture. Science is a strength, with more than two-thirds of tested students meeting proficiency. Mathematics and English language arts cluster around the mid-to-upper range, with roughly three-fifths of students proficient in each subject. A prior assessment in social studies, from several years back, showed very strong performance. The school's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile among school districts in Marion County. Only one year of testing data is available, so trend direction cannot be assessed.
The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. No data on chronic absenteeism, classroom discipline, or detailed staffing was provided.
The setting is quiet and rural. Population in Morral has remained stable or declined modestly over recent years, and no major housing or development projects were identified. Families in this area tend to have stable, long-term community ties rooted in agricultural and manufacturing work. The school offers a small-school environment where staff and families likely know one another; a parent considering this school would experience a close-knit rural elementary setting with moderate academic performance in core subjects and a high proportion of students from lower-income households.
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