FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
East Cleveland, Ohio - East Cleveland City Schools has earned a three-star overall rating on the 20252026 Ohio School Report Card, marking the second consecutive year the district has reached that level.
The district also received four stars in Progress for the second year in a row. The Progress measure looks at how much students grow academically over time.
For East Cleveland, maintaining these ratings is particularly significant. The district was released from state academic distress in December 2025 after years of work by students, families, teachers, staff members, and community partners.
“Last year, three stars showed that East Cleveland had reached a new level,” Superintendent and CEO Dr. Henry Pettiegrew II said. “This year, maintaining three stars gives us another piece of evidence that the progress can last.”
The report card also shows that the district’s work is not finished. Mathematics remains the district's most pressing academic challenge, and district leaders are reviewing the results by grade level, subject, and student group to determine where additional support and instructional changes are needed.
“We should be proud of what our scholars and educators have accomplished, but we also have to be honest about what the evidence is telling us,” Pettiegrew said. “Four stars in Progress tells us that students can grow here. Our next responsibility is to make that growth more consistent across classrooms and subjects, especially in mathematics.”
This school year, East Cleveland is strengthening a districtwide approach to instruction built around four expectations: explicit instruction, grade-level work with appropriate support, frequent checks for understanding, and opportunities for students to explain their thinking in writing.
The district is also using weekly instructional reviews and shorter response cycles so that teachers and administrators can adjust support while students are still learning the material.
The district’s report card story extends beyond a single year. East Cleveland earned three stars following a decade in which the district had not experienced sustained academic improvement. Maintaining that rating after leaving academic distress offers an early indication that the turnaround work is becoming part of the district’s regular operation.
“This is not a finish line,” Pettiegrew said. “It is confirmation that the district has moved—and a reminder that we must keep moving.”
East Cleveland City Schools publicly reviewed the complete report card results during its regular Board of Education meeting on September 14, 2026.
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
Superintendent & CEO Dr. Henry Pettiegrew II is available for on-camera, telephone, and virtual interviews regarding the district’s report-card results, its transition from state academic distress, and the work underway to sustain improvement.
Broadcast-quality B-roll, photographs and report-card graphics are available at:
MEDIA INQUIRIES AND INTERVIEW REQUESTS SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO:
Trish White
East Cleveland City Schools
[email protected]
216.268.6576