Kingsville Elementary School just pulled off something no other school in Ashtabula County has managed: a five-star rating on Ohio's state report card. Out of 29 schools across the county, Kingsville Elementary is the lone school wearing the state's top mark this year.
The achievement, first reported by News 5 Cleveland, comes after what district officials describe as years of work rebuilding academic growth following disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Colucci, speaking to the station, said the school is the only five-star-rated school among the county's 29 schools and may be the only school ever to receive five stars under Ohio's current rating system.
Danyel Ryan, the district's director of pupil personnel and school improvement, admitted the rating caught even her off guard. “I wasn't expecting a five this year,” she said, according to the same report. Principal Kristi Feather credited the school's staff for looking beyond test scores, saying teachers and staff “care about the whole child, social and emotional” — not just academic outcomes.
Veteran Teachers Point to Collaboration
Two longtime teachers at Kingsville Elementary, Katie Measel and Jana Neczeporenko, have a combined 53 years of experience at the school, per the station's report. Neczeporenko said teachers collaborate across grade levels and adapt practices that work — a habit that appears to have paid off under Ohio's five-star scale, which measures schools in categories including achievement, progress and gap closing. One speaker, identified only as she in the report, said she felt elated but nervous about maintaining the five-star rating going forward.
District leaders plan to formally recognize Kingsville Elementary's achievement during the Buckeye Local Board of Education meeting on Oct. 20, according to the same account.
How the Five-Star System Works
Ohio school districts and schools receive overall ratings from one to five stars in half-star increments, according to WKBN. The report cards rate districts on six components: achievement, progress, gap closing, early literacy, graduation, and college, career, workforce and military readiness. A three-star rating meets state standards, while a five-star rating significantly exceeds them, the station reports.
Those numbers carry weight statewide. WKBN also reported that only about 55% of Ohio students were meeting statewide math proficiency expectations when the 2025 report cards were released — context that makes Kingsville's five-star mark stand out even more. The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce states that the report cards are required by law to provide information about district and school performance and to help celebrate successes while identifying areas for improvement, per the Ohio School Report Cards site.
A Closer Look at the Numbers
According to the Gazette News, Kingsville Elementary received five stars in progress and gap closing, four stars in achievement, and three stars in early literacy — a breakdown that helped push its overall rating to the top of the scale. Buckeye Local Schools as a whole earned an overall four-star rating on its 2025-26 State Report Card, meaning the district exceeds state standards, the outlet reported.
Elsewhere in the district, Ridgeview Elementary received a 4.5-star overall rating and was one of only two county schools to reach that level, with five stars in gap closing and four stars in achievement, progress and early literacy, per the Gazette News report. Braden Middle School earned an overall four-star rating, while Edgewood High School received the lowest rating in the Buckeye Local district at 3.5 stars overall, the outlet noted.
The pandemic's lingering effects have shaped the district's trajectory for years. Buckeye Local Schools previously acknowledged the impact of COVID-19 on student performance while emphasizing the district was on a path toward recovery and improvement, according to the Star Beacon. Kingsville Elementary's five-star rating now stands as a marker of how far that recovery has come.
