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About Fairborn

Our Community & Schools

Fairborn, Ohio is located approximately 12 miles east of Dayton, and our schools are located throughout the community, serving as hubs of collaboration, community, and connection. The Fairborn City School District primarily serves students in Fairborn, Bath Township, and Wright Patterson Air Force Base, with a student population of just over 4,200. The City of Fairborn has an estimated 33,780 residents that come to us from all around the state, country, and world.

We are a diverse, close-knit, and innovative learning community. We value the qualities and traits the individual student brings to the classroom while encouraging them to explore their leadership roles in our community. This wide array of experiences and identities converges with our innovative and forward-thinking teaching practices to create a learning community that believes in respectful collaboration, academic rigor, and high personal expectations.

As our mission states, our faculty, staff, administration, and students are relentless in our pursuit of personal and academic excellence. Ultimately, that pursuit will set our students up for success in whatever path they choose.

Fairborn students attend school in grade-level learning communities, which are housed at the former sites of our neighborhood schools. The transition to grade-level buildings occurred in 2004 as a response to community-based research, a district-wide restructuring program, and ultimately with the goal of increasing collaborative teaching efforts across individual grade levels.

The Fairborn community has voted for bond issues to build all new educational facilities in the Fairborn community. Fairborn Primary, Fairborn Intermediate and Fairborn High School are all newly-constructed buildings. The district is currently working on plans for the new Fairborn Middle School which will be next to Fairborn High School.

Fairborn Primary School, (which sits on the site of the old Five Points Elementary & Five Points Junior High School), is home to our youngest Skyhawks in grades PreK-2. Fairborn Intermediate School, (which sits on the site of the former Palmer-South Elementary), is home to students in grades 3-5. Fairborn Middle School (the former Fairborn High School) is home to students in grades 6-8. Fairborn High School is home to students in grades 9-12.

Our schools and community have a rich history. Our ability to look ahead, yet preserve the best aspects of our past, sets Fairborn apart from other communities. We continue to blaze new trails as we reach forward to a bright future and a limitless horizon. We are very thankful to the community for the support of new educational facilities!

Fairborn Fast Facts

Holidays and Celebrations are BIG here! Our town goes all out for celebrating and coming together as one. (Halloween, Independence Day, and Christmas especially!)
The City hosts scores of events to keep you and your family busy, from movie nights in the park to the weekly farmers markets, to music festivals in historic downtown...there is truly something for everyone!
Fairbornites are known for caring deeply about, and being very proud of, Wright State University, WPAFB, The Air Force Marathon, and our Skyhawk Pride!
Fairborn has an extremely rich history. For more on that, scroll down below the photo gallery on this page!
There are many youth sports opportunities, including YMCA sports of all kinds, select basketball and soccer, youth football and cheerleading, youth wrestling, Little League Baseball, a strong youth softball program, and more!

Our History

To read an excerpt on our history from "A Tale of Two Towns" by Cleo Wilson Hodgkins, click here.

In Fairborn, the roots of our community grow long and deep. Our heritage is built upon the strength, innovation and rugged determination of the area’s earliest settlers. Their legacy lives on in their pioneering spirit that still inspires us. The Native Americans who first inhabited the wild landscapes of this area were the powerful Shawnees led by Chief Tecumseh. Their bravery, raw courage, and unwavering pride still echo through our area today. These same attributes helped shape our community values for generations to come and laid the foundation for Fairborn’s ultimate success.

In 1799, the first English settlers arrived and eventually the village of Fairfield was formed. By the early 1800s, Fairfield had become a pivotal stop for stage coaches traveling between Dayton and Springfield. With the advent of the railroad in the mid-1800s, new towns began
to spring up. One of them was the Village of Osborn. It grew rapidly due to its proximity to the railway line. During this time, Fairfield’s growth slowed but, by the turn of the century, another form of transportation—the airplane—helped to spark its rebirth. The Fairfield Intermediate Air Depot played a crucial role in supply and air training during the first World War. Coincidentally, the Wright Brothers performed many flight tests and had established the Wilbur Wright Flying Field on nearby Huffman Prairie.

After the devastating 1913 flood in Dayton, plans began for construction of the Huffman Dam across the Mad River, which would back its waters into the village of Osborn. On land now considered a flood plain, Osborn’s future was in jeopardy. So, in 1921, the industrious villagers took matters into their own hands and literally moved the village to land that bordered Fairfield. Everything was moved. Nothing was left except the basements. Buildings were set on new foundations and Osborn became a twin village to Fairfield. Fairfield and Osborn operated independently until residents voted to merge their communities and their names. In 1950, the new village of Fairborn was officially created. Later that year, when the population reached 5,000, Fairborn became a city. Since then, Fairborn’s population has blossomed to more than 33,000 and it continues to grow and thrive.

Working together with the spirit of innovation and a shared community vision that benefits our citizens is
a trait we inherited from our rich history.