Wah Hi Dah found her niche at Akron Early College: She’s surrounded by high school students who prioritize academic success.
As a sophomore, Dah enjoys the opportunity to take college courses years ahead of most teenagers and the freedom of a college environment — the specialty school is located downtown in the University of Akron’s Polsky Building. Even though she said classes are difficult, she feels supported by the staff and her peers.
“If you stayed at this school for a whole day,” Dah, 15, said, “you will literally see how teachers will interact with students out of class. … I’ve never really grown a relationship with my teachers, but ever since I came here, I feel like I’m friends with all of them.”
Like Dah, Nayla Cunningham-Traore’s goal is to earn her associate degree while in high school. Along the way, she said camaraderie and support makes her ambitions possible.
“The teachers do everything to make it a fun experience for us because they know that we’re doing more than other schools, it’s going to be harder on us — especially the workload and everything — but they really do their best and succeed in making it really fun,” said Cunningham-Traore, 15.
These experiences and others draw students from throughout Akron Public Schools — and neighboring school districts — Principal Tom O’Neil said. While students apply as eighth graders to attend high school there, they are selected not only on academic scores but also on potential, discipline and attendance. And those same students have earned the high school top marks on state tests, including another five-star rating on the state’s annual report card.
Akron Early College students regularly score higher on state exams than their peers in other APS buildings and the state’s average. Nearly all its students score proficient or better in tested subjects such as algebra, geometry, biology and American government. The vast majority of students earn at least 12 college credits or more while in high school.
There are plenty of five-star schools in Ohio, but O’Neil said his Akron school has earned the highest cumulative point total for traditional high schools for the past three years.
“We have kids that buy in and they want to do well and they work hard,” O’Neil said.
While chronic absenteeism in Akron Public Schools has improved from nearly 50 percent during the 2021-22 school year to 40.9 percent in 2025-26, the rate at Akron Early College is less than 4 percent.
The school’s continued success has brought honor from the district: A parade through downtown Akron on Nov. 5 will celebrate its achievements.
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During his previous tenure at North High School, O’Neil met kids who needed something different than neighborhood schools.
“They want to do well, they have goals, they have dreams, but then they get in a big school setting and as they move through sophomore, junior year, and it’s like the light goes out,” he said.
At Akron Early College, O’Neil said, the smaller school environment of about 400 students leads to strong relationships.
Students here spend their freshman year taking high school-level classes and transition into college courses their sophomore year and beyond. The college-level classes count toward the core courses most college students take, regardless of major.
By the spring semester of senior year, some Akron Early College students begin major-specific courses such as intro to business, engineering or education.
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Students, teachers and staff challenged to be their best
Akron Early College consistently maintains a 100 percent four-year graduation rate. But that does not mean that every student who starts at the school their freshman year will graduate from there four years later.
O’Neil said some will not make it. But at that point, “… everyone in this program, including our lunch lady, has … tried to work [with them],” he said. “It’s always a sad day when it has to happen, but the nature of the program, if they are not passing their college classes, they kind of come to the end of the road themselves.”
These students transfer back to their “home schools” to finish out high school — their completed college classes fulfill high school requirements. Akron Early College is not large enough to backfill for students who can’t pass the college courses. They do not count toward the school’s graduation rate from the state.
O’Neil said teachers and staff are also challenged.
“[I] say you need to be the best you can be,” he said, “for our kids, and there’re countless teachers around Akron that would love to be here.”
In 2012, the school’s first graduating class boasted 57 students. Last year, O’Neil said, it graduated just under 100 out of the 108 or so who started their freshman year there. Nearly all of its graduates earn dual enrollment college credit while still in high school.
Unlike traditional high schools within APS, Akron Early College has few students with disabilities and few English Language learners, according to state data. Conversely, more than one out of three students is identified as gifted.
By comparison, the National Inventors Hall of Fame STEM High School — another APS speciality school that accepts students through a lottery system — received five stars overall, though lower ratings in individual components. It serves about 300 students, with 10 percent identified as having disabilities and nearly 30 percent identified as gifted. NIHF STEM also has few English Language learners.
School culture challenges staff, students to move forward
Akron Early College’s culture is what drew Saimon Lama to apply from Stow-Munroe Falls after his cousin attended the school years prior.
“This school shows greatness, and it proves it through the work ethic from the students and the amount of effort the teacher puts in to grade the work, make the work and make the class actually enjoyable,” said Lama, now a 15-year-old sophomore.
“When I think about — even though I’ve only been here for a year — how my life has become from being here, it feels so happy.”
