Original Research by School Decision on Cincinnati Classical Academy
Cincinnati Classical Academy is a public district that opened in 2022-23 and serves kindergarten through seventh grade across two campuses in the Cincinnati area. The school is in the early years of its build-out, adding one grade per year until it reaches full K-12 capacity. This is the defining context for any family considering enrollment: the district is maturing by design, with high school grades and a full senior class still years away.
The academy's enrollment is modest and draws students from a wide geographic area. The student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Asian, multiracial, Hispanic, and Black students. The school does not report free-or-reduced-price-lunch eligibility or special education or English learner enrollment counts, so the economic and learning-support profile is not visible in available data.
The center of this school is its Hillsdale College classical liberal arts curriculum. This is not a minor affiliation or naming convention; it is a wholesale pedagogical identity that defines daily instruction. The curriculum is prescriptive across math, science, literature, and history, built on primary sources and classic texts. Students begin Latin in grade six. The school uses Singapore Math and prohibits mandatory digital devices in favor of teacher-led instruction. Uniforms are required. When the high school opens, the school plans to offer Advanced Placement courses integrated into the classical framework and will culminate in a senior thesis. This model is radically different from standard Ohio public schooling. For families drawn to classical education, classical language study, and structured liberal arts progression, it is the entire reason to choose this school. For families who prefer other pedagogies, it is equally decisive in the other direction.
The school operates two campuses. The Siebenthaler campus houses elementary grades. A second location at Summit Park in Blue Ash will house middle and upper school as they are built out. This multi-site structure is part of the growth plan.
State assessment data, graduation rates, and proficiency results are not available, because the school serves only grades K-7, which are not part of Ohio's state testing regime, and has not yet completed a high school cohort. One available metric shows the school's chronic absenteeism rate in the top quartile among Hamilton County districts, meaning absenteeism is lower here than in most comparable districts in the county.
A parent considering this school faces a genuine choice: classical education aligned with a national curriculum model developed by Hillsdale College, in a school that is still adding grades and capacity, taught in a framework that values primary texts, languages, and traditional subject matter. This is not a school with a long history of outcomes to evaluate or an established high school program. It is a new school with a coherent and deliberate mission, built incrementally. Whether that fits depends entirely on whether the classical approach resonates with your family's educational values.
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