The top reported proficiency rate is 80% in Social studies. The lowest is 0% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Washington School
Washington School serves kindergarten through second grade in Marietta, a small historic river town at the confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers. The school sits within the Marietta City School District, which underwent significant restructuring in 2021–22, consolidating its four elementary buildings down to two and reconfiguring grade spans across all district buildings. Washington School is now one of two district schools serving the youngest students, kindergarten through grade two.
Enrollment is small, at roughly the size typical for an elementary school of this grade band in a town of Marietta's scale. The student body is predominantly white, with a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic composition of the community. Race and ethnicity data show limited diversity: the overwhelming majority of students are white, with small numbers of students of Hispanic, Asian, and multiracial backgrounds. Data on students with individualized education plans and English learners were not available from the state.
State testing data present a mixed picture. Washington School participated in Ohio state assessments in the 2021–22 school year, but the only results with enough test-takers to report appear in the data from sixth grade math and language arts, where proficiency was zero. Older data from 2016–17 show a social studies proficiency result from when the school apparently served grade four, with students performing solidly. The school does not report fifth-grade or higher results in more recent years, which aligns with its current role as a K–2 building: it no longer enrolls the grades where state testing occurs. When proficiency rates are averaged across all the school's available tested data, the result falls in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in Washington County. This positioning reflects the limited recent testing data and the zero results from a very small cohort. A parent may want to look into the school's current K–2 instructional practices and academic environment directly with the district, since state testing does not assess these early grades and the comparative metrics available do not reflect the school's core work.
Marietta itself has experienced slow population decline over two decades, dropping from a prior peak to a current estimated population of roughly the size of a small county-seat town. The housing market shows median home values well below state and national benchmarks, making the area more affordable than much of Ohio and the nation. The median home in the area was built in the early twentieth century; about half the housing stock predates World War II. New construction has been sparse, with only modest growth in the 2010s. Recent economic activity has centered more on business expansion and facility investment—in healthcare affiliations, manufacturing plants, and industrial firms—than on residential development. The River Trail expansion project and a public mural gallery added in recent years reflect modest civic reinvestment.
The district renewed a significant operating levy in May 2025 without a tax increase, securing stable funding for staffing and transportation. This ballot success means the budget outlook parents see when evaluating the district is stable for the current levy cycle, avoiding the classroom cuts that would otherwise have occurred.
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