DaytonDailyNews.com

Fort Recovery High School might look a little out of place so close to the top of the high school test score rankings.

But make no mistake — it belongs. And so does much of the rest of mostly rural Mercer County in the northern Miami Valley.

Fort Recovery ranked 15th best of 825 Ohio high schools for "performance index score," the state's measure of test performance. But its students are nowhere near as rich as the other top performers in the state.

Nearly every other school ranked in the top 15 is from the wealthiest 6 percent of school districts, with a median income of at least $46,000.

Many education studies have shown household income is strongly connected to test performance.

But Fort Recovery ranks just 332 out of 610 school districts with median income of $31,132. Coldwater and Marion Local, other Mercer County high schools among the top 50, are much the same — built from tight-knit families with modest incomes but over-achieving academic focus.

"Our students come to us with a good work ethic from homes where they are expected to work hard and graduate from high school," Fort Recovery Superintendent David Riel said. "Failure is not an option."

That is a common theme for high schools in the greater Miami Valley that scored high on state tests.

Oakwood High School may be in one of the richest Miami Valley cities, but even its scores exceed expectations.

Oakwood is among the wealthiest districts in the state, ninth for median income at $60,465. But for test performance, Oakwood High School ranked No. 1, ahead of districts with median incomes almost $10,000 higher.

Like the Mercer County schools, Oakwood benefits from an intense community commitment to education and great teaching, said Kim Kappler, director of curriculum, instruction and testing.

"We've got great teachers who are very well educated and dedicated parents and students who really value education," she said.

In Fort Recovery, many of the teachers grew up in the community and chose to return to teach there even though they could make more money elsewhere, Riel said.

"We have an extraordinarily talented staff," he said. "You never hear a teacher here say, 'that kid's not going to make it.' They believe every kid is going to make it."

With 300 total students, Fort Recovery High School may have an advantage when it comes to individual attention. But at Centerville, the second-biggest high school in the state with more than 2,700 students, the district has found creative ways to give kids extra help.

And again, community support is the key.

Superintendent Gary Smiga said Centerville has more than 600 "academic volunteers" — community members who work individually with struggling students. Many are paired with high school students, especially those who have had difficulty with the Ohio Graduation Test.

Centerville High School ranked 46th best in Ohio for test performance.

"I would give credit to our dedicated staff, a curriculum that is aligned with state standards and high expectations for our students by our parents, our staff and our community in general," Smiga said. "Everyone strives to meet expectations and all of our residents have supported us with their tax dollars and their volunteer hours."

On the other end of the spectrum, five charter schools in Dayton were among the 50 worst scoring high schools in the state, but all are specifically designed for students who already have dropped out or are at risk to do so.

The lowest-ranked traditional high school was Dayton's Dunbar High School at 755th. Superintendent Percy Mack said Dayton is looking at instituting the High Schools that Work curriculum reform at Dunbar to try to turn its academic performance around.

"Our hope is that will help Dunbar to move forward and improve its academic performance," he said. "We have to really focus there and work to make improvements."

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2485 or selliott@DaytonDailyNews.com.