The top reported proficiency rate is 59% in Science. The lowest is 44% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Columbus Intermediate School
Columbus Intermediate School serves the elementary grades (third through fifth) for the Bedford City School District, a multi-community district spanning Bedford, Bedford Heights, Oakwood Village, and Walton Hills in eastern Cuyahoga County, an older suburb of Cleveland. The school sits on Columbus Road in Bedford, where residential neighborhoods and the civic footprint define the area around it.
The student body is predominantly Black, with smaller populations of Hispanic, multiracial, and white students. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting broader economic conditions in the district. Columbus serves roughly equal cohorts across its three grade levels, with enrollment small enough that the school functions at a neighborhood scale.
On the most recent state assessments (Ohio's State Tests for 2024-25), Columbus showed mixed results across subjects. In science, students performed above the midpoint, with roughly three out of every five students meeting proficiency. In English language arts, about half of students reached proficiency. In mathematics, the proficiency rate was lower, with fewer than half meeting the standard. These patterns mirror challenges across many schools in the region. When placed against the other elementary, middle, and high schools tested in Cuyahoga County, Columbus's overall proficiency index places it below the median. A parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand what targeted support exists for mathematics, whether small-group or intervention programming is available, and how the school is working to close gaps.
The district is in the midst of substantial infrastructure change. Voters approved a major bond in 2023 to fund three new school buildings, with a new middle school and kindergarten-through-second-grade facility scheduled to open in 2027 and a new high school in 2028. This represents one of the state's largest school construction bonds and will reshape where students in Columbus Intermediate's grades will eventually transition. The district has also reinstated Career and Technical Education programming, bringing back 15 CTE pathways at no cost, which expands career-exploration options for high school students moving forward.
Bedford itself is a small, stable historic suburb with a walkable downtown anchored by a Town Square and gazebo along Broadway Avenue. Housing stock is mixed and varied—brick bungalows, Tudors, split-levels, and colonials on tree-lined streets. The real estate market in the area remains relatively affordable for the broader Cleveland region, with housing values and rents rising modestly year over year. The economy is anchored by healthcare (a University Hospitals branch), senior care, retail, and logistics, alongside the school district as a significant employer. Many residents commute to larger employers elsewhere in the metro area. The Bedford Branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library and Cleveland Metroparks Bedford Reservation (featuring Tinker's Creek Gorge) provide community amenities nearby.
Columbus Intermediate sits within a district managing a major transition toward new facilities while working to rebuild academic performance and expand pathways. For families considering the school, the picture is one of a neighborhood elementary serving a diverse, economically challenged student body in a historic, compact suburb undergoing significant long-term reinvestment.
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