Ohio charter schools are free, but require students and their families to opt in and are governed by a board of trustees instead of elected officials like a traditional public school. In general, charter schools do not have access to local tax funding and often hold classes in unconventional places like church basements, disused public school buildings and strip malls.
Aaron Churchill, Ohio research director for the Fordham Institute, which sponsors multiple charter schools including many within the Dayton region, said multiple studies have shown charter schools can outperform local district schools and help students make gains in learning.
“There’s variation from school to school in terms of their performance and whether the students do gain more than they would in the district schools,” Churchill said.
He said it’s important to look at high-performing schools and see what works well there.
High-performing schools
The Dayton Regional STEM School middle and high school received a five-star rating in the last report card. (Last year, the elementary school wasn’t open.)
The STEM school is not technically a charter school under state law, but it also has a board of directors and does not have access to local tax funding, relying instead on state funding.
The highest-performing charter school in the Dayton region is Dayton Early College Academy, or DECA, which is a college prep school located on University of Dayton’s campus. The building got 4.5 stars in the 2024-2025 report card.
DECA also has an elementary school called DECA Prep, which got 2.5 stars in the 2024-2025 report card. Both are sponsored by the Fordham Institute.
“At DECA we have several things that make the difference: our people, our culture, and our expectations,” said Dave Taylor, DECA superintendent.
He said the district invests in staff and has worked to create a culture of trust.
“We know that the quality of a student’s teacher is the single most important factor in their success at school,” Taylor said. “Our teachers and staff provide a safe space for our scholars to learn, grow, and achieve things they didn’t know they could. “
Schools with less than 2 stars
Engage High School, located on North Main Street in Dayton, received one star on the 2025 report card.
Five other regional charter schools received 1.5 stars on the report card.
Out of more than 3,000 traditional public schools and charter school buildings in Ohio, only 126 – less than 4% - received a 1 or 1.5 star on the 2025 report card.
Veronica Fly, vice president of communications and marketing at The Educational Empowerment Group, said the one-star rating is a baseline metric but does not capture the “consistent, year-over-year academic growth realized by our student body.”
“As a burgeoning school that initially integrated a diverse cohort of students from various educational backgrounds, the school has prioritized individualized instructional design,” Fly said of Engage High School. “This approach meticulously addresses specific academic deficits to accelerate both student growth and overall proficiency.”
Fly said the school plans to close achievement gaps by using evidence-based strategies, including a mix of direct instruction, small-group sessions, and tutoring. She added that the school will continue refining individual instructional plans and strengthening the link between academic standards and career-tech programming.
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