Forest Hills Local School District and Mariemont City School District both earned the highest possible 5-star overall rating on Ohio's 2026 annual school report cards, released Tuesday, Sept. 15.

The results place both districts among just five in Hamilton County to reach the top mark. Indian Hill, Sycamore and Wyoming also earned 5 stars, according to WCPO. Ten districts across southwest Ohio hit the 5-star threshold.

For Forest Hills, the rating marks a jump. The district earned 4.5 stars on the 2024-2025 report card, according to WLWT. Superintendent Larry Hook presented that result at the board's Sept. 17, 2025, meeting, noting it placed Forest Hills in the top 12 percent of all Ohio districts, according to district records. The new 5-star rating pushes the district to the state's highest tier.

Forest Hills serves about 6,500 students across nine schools in Hamilton County.

Mariemont City, which serves roughly 1,632 students in four schools spanning Mariemont, Terrace Park, Fairfax and surrounding areas, also earned 5 stars on the 2023-2024 report card, according to district records. The district's 2024-2025 overall rating has not been confirmed.

Ohio's report cards, required by law, score districts on six components using a 5-star scale: achievement, progress, gap closing, graduation, early literacy, and college, career, workforce and military readiness. Any rating below 3 stars means a district needs support to meet state standards. Anything above 3 means it has exceeded them, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

The state has not yet published component-level breakdowns for either district's 2026 rating. In 2024-2025, Forest Hills earned five stars in achievement, graduation and gap closing, four stars in early literacy and progress, and three stars in the then-new college and career readiness category.

The district said on X in March 2026 that Forest Hills achieves its academic results at a below-average cost per pupil.

Neither Superintendent Hook nor Mariemont Superintendent Steven Estepp has released a public statement about the 2026 results as of Wednesday, Sept. 16.