5 things to know about Monroe Local Schools

Butler County’s Monroe Local Schools is one of the fastest growing school systems in Southwest Ohio. The school district reflects the rapid expansion of the city of Monroe, which according to the 2016 U.S. Census estimate had the sharpest jump in residents among area communities. MICHAEL D. CLARK/STAFF

Butler County’s Monroe Local Schools is one of the fastest growing school systems in Southwest Ohio. The school district reflects the rapid expansion of the city of Monroe, which according to the 2016 U.S. Census estimate had the sharpest jump in residents among area communities. MICHAEL D. CLARK/STAFF

Monroe Local Schools is one of the younger school systems among Ohio’s 613 public school districts.

It was formed in 2000 in a split from the adjacent Middletown City Schools after being part of that Butler County district for a half-century.

Here are 5 things you may not know about Monroe Local Schools:

1. Two-county school district

The Monroe school district’s boundaries, like the city of Monroe, are almost entirely within Butler County but both the school system and the city straddles the Butler and Warren County line near Interstate 75. Almost all of the district’s residents live on the Butler County side of the divide.

2. One of region’s few mega-schools

The school system features one of the region’s few mega-schools, which covers grades 2-12 at its Yankee Road school campus. The younger grades and pre-school are housed in the Monroe Primary School, which opened its doors in 1954 and is one of the oldest schools in Butler County.

3. Abandoned high school building demolished

Until last year, when the more than century old and abandoned Lemon-Monroe High School building was demolished, Monroe Schools had one of the oldest schools still standing in the region, though it had not been used since 2005.

4. Enrollment nearly doubles in 17 years

In 2000 when the Monroe Schools came into existence, the enrollment was about 1,500 students. District enrollment now is about 2,700 students and growing.

5. Butler County’s fastest-growing city

Monroe, which was incorporated in 1995, is the area’s fastest-growing small city, according to 2016 population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. It has a population of more than 14,000.

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