North Ridgeville City School District grows by about 150 students annually, and some years even more, says Superintendent Roxann Ramsey-Caserio, citing the community’s positive expansion and development for an ongoing wave of new families.
“We have added 17 AP courses during the time I’ve been here, and we have really grown programmatically to include many new career technical education opportunities right here on campus,” Caserio says. “Despite the overcrowding, our amazing teachers continue to find creative ways to provide opportunities to students.”
The original high school building was constructed in 1967 for about 900 students. Today, there are 1,500 students.
“A new building will provide a much more modern environment for our staff and students,” says Matt Yunker, the district’s director of operations, noting a new maintenance and transportation facility that will also house buses.
Last November, voters helped pass Issue 16, a $143-million bond levy to fund a new high school. In March 2024, the schools and the city held the State of North Ridgeville Address focused on “building North Ridgeville” to plan for future growth, with residents voicing interest in a performing arts center, natatorium and career education spaces. The district enlisted ThenDesign Architecture of Willoughby and recently approved Hammond Construction of Uniontown as the construction manager for the project.
Caserio estimates a five- to six-year process for the new high school, which will be located south of the existing building.
The original levy, which did not pass, included an elementary school. The district has since retrofitted its Liberty Elementary School campus with eight new mobile classrooms connected to the building and an enclosed gym. Safe, secure movable walls now replace dividers between learning pods.
“There’s plenty of room to grow in the Academic Center for grades three to eight that opened in 2016, and Ranger High Tech Academy is the only publicly accredited STEAM school in Lorain County,” Caserio says of district wins, which include the new high school on the forefront.
