The top reported proficiency rate is 82% in Science. The lowest is 0% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on George Mcdowell-exchange Middle School
George McDowell-Exchange Middle School, located in Circleville, Ohio, is closed and no longer serves students. The school was a public middle school operated by Logan Elm Local School District and once enrolled students in grades seven and eight.
The most recent state test data available is from the 2022-23 school year, the final year the school was operational. On the Ohio State Tests for eighth-grade mathematics, about three in five students met or exceeded proficiency. Seventh graders showed slightly lower performance in math, with just over half proficient. In English language arts, seventh graders performed substantially better than eighth graders: roughly seven in ten seventh graders were proficient, compared to about six in ten eighth graders. Science testing occurred only in eighth grade, where proficiency was notably higher at around four in five students meeting the standard. Social studies data from 2016-17, the most recent available, showed extremely limited testing due to very low enrollment that year and is not representative of typical performance.
Demographic, enrollment, and staffing data for the school were not available in the records. A single state performance data point is all that survives in publicly reported assessments.
Logan Elm Local School District underwent a major structural change in August 2023 when it consolidated six previously separate school buildings—some of which were many decades old—into a single modern PK-12 campus. This consolidation affected every family in the district. For families considering Logan Elm at the time this school was still operating, the transition to the unified building meant that all grade levels would eventually share one facility with contemporary technology, security infrastructure, and climate control, along with separate academic wings designed to create distinct learning communities for elementary, middle, and high school students.
On the tax side, voters approved an earned income tax levy in November 2025 that replaced the district's expiring property tax emergency levy. The earned income tax applies only to wages and salaries, excluding retirement income, interest, dividends, and capital gains. For retirees and homeowners in the district, this represents a shift in the local tax base.
Circleville itself is a small county seat in Pickaway County, roughly miles south of Columbus, along the Scioto River. The town has a compact, walkable historic downtown organized around a courthouse square, with locally-owned shops, restaurants, and antique stores, though most newer residential and commercial development has followed an auto-oriented pattern along the city's edges. Manufacturing anchors the economy: DuPont's Ohio flagship chemical plant, PPG's polymer-resin operations, the Sofidel tissue plant, and PACCAR's truck manufacturing facility are the largest employers, along with healthcare services, retail logistics, and Ohio Christian University. Housing development is accelerating, with multiple new subdivisions and mixed-use projects under way. The housing market in the area is moderately valued, with median home prices below the state average and affordability metrics roughly in line with national benchmarks.
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