Alternative Education Academy

Independence · OH · Alternative Education Academy · Public charter · K-12 combined

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📋 At a glance

Programs & features
  • ✅ Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: Bottom 40% of US high schools
  • 📝 SAT/ACT participation: 67th percentile by test-taker volume
  • 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 20% (Bottom 2% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate)

Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts ACGR, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.

💡

How Alternative Education Academy compares for families

Solid mid-tier academic profile.

  • LocallyOH students outperform the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math (+4 points).
  • vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: Normandy High School, Cleveland Heights High School, Cuyahoga Valley Career Center and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

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SAT / ACT participation

CRDC federal data · 2020-21

67th percentile by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
136
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
4.5
takers per 100 students in grades 9-12
Compared against
18,426
US high schools reporting SAT/ACT participation

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). Volume — not score — is what's reported here. A higher count means more students at this school are entering the college admissions pipeline. Note: 2020-21 was COVID-disrupted; some districts (especially those that stayed remote longer) report unusually low or zero takers.

🎓 4-year graduation rate · federal EDFacts

What % of students graduate on time?

Bottom 2% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate

50th 90th
4-year graduation rate
20%
Single-point estimate
4-year cohort size
501
Students in the 9th-grade entry class tracked over 4 years
Compared against
17,988
US high schools reporting 4-year ACGR

Source: federal EDFacts ACGR (Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate), 2019 vintage via Urban Institute. EDFacts publishes a range (low-high) to preserve privacy on small cohorts; we display the midpoint.

👩‍🏫 Teacher workforce · federal CRDC

Teacher experience & reliability

% inexperienced teachers (1st-2nd yr)
57.6%
Elevated — a quarter or more of teachers are in years 1-2. Often correlates with school instability.
% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)
1.5%
Strong attendance culture among teachers.

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2017-18 — the most recent vintage that publishes per-school teacher quality fields; the 2020-21 sweep had them suppressed). "Inexperienced" = teachers in their first or second year. "Chronic absence" = teachers absent 10+ days/year.

🏛️ Your state's public flagship

Ohio State University-Main Campus

51%
admit rate
$13,244
in-state tuition/yr · $40,022 out-of-state
1330–1480
SAT 25–75 · ACT 29–32

The in-state tuition gap is the flagship's biggest draw — most in-state families pay far less than the out-of-state sticker. Average net price after aid runs about $17,339/yr. Admission odds depend on your student's GPA and test scores, not which high school they attend.

See the full Ohio State University-Main Campus profile → Estimate your odds with your scores →

Source: IPEDS admissions, tuition & enrollment + College Scorecard net price. Flagship = the state's primary public research university.

Counselor capacity

Student : Counselor
251:1
Above the ASCA 250:1 target but below the US median (~430:1). Capacity is workable.
Counselor FTE
25.0
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
153
Full-time-equivalent classroom teachers.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020-2021. Counselor ratio = the school's most recent total enrollment ÷ counselor FTE. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommends a 250:1 maximum; the US national median across schools with on-staff counselors is roughly 430:1.

Enrollment trend & projection

Grade 12 went from 445 in 2021 to 636 in 2024 — over 3 years.
+42.9%

Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of +5.2%/year, projecting from 2024's 6,276 students:

2025
6,605
2027
7,315
2029
8,102

An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.

Revenue upside

At $7,127 per student in district revenue, the 1,826 students projected to be gained by 2029 represent ≈ $13,013,902/year in additional funding.

District total revenue ÷ enrollment, NCES F-33. Public funding largely follows enrollment, so a shrinking class is a recurring budget hit.

Most similar nearby high schools

The schools most like this one — same type, blended on distance and size — and where their enrollment is heading. These are the schools families here weigh against each other.

SchoolTypeMilesHS enrollmentTrend
Normandy High School
Parma
Public 3.2 1,610 +44.8%
Cleveland Heights High School
Cleveland Heights
Public 8.9 1,717 +7.3%
Cuyahoga Valley Career Center
Brecksville
Public 3.7
Valley Forge High School
Parma Heights
Public 5.5 1,402 +21.5%
Shaker Hts High School
Shaker Heights
Public 7.1 1,418 -9.3%
North Royalton High School
North Royalton
Public 7.1 1,401 +2.0%
Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School
Broadview Heights
Public 4.8 1,181 -2.8%
Lakewood High School
Lakewood
Public 9.3 1,372 +0.7%

For Parents

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