The top reported proficiency rate is 55% in Science. The lowest is 47% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Princeton Community Middle School
Princeton Community Middle School serves grades six through eight in Cincinnati's Princeton City district, a regular public school with an enrollment distributed fairly evenly across the three grades. The school's academic performance sits below the midpoint among other districts in Hamilton County when measured by overall proficiency across tested subjects.
On Ohio's State Tests, the school's proficiency rates vary by subject. Science is the strongest area, where just over half of students tested achieved proficiency or above. In English language arts and mathematics, proficiency rates hover near the midpoint, with roughly half of students meeting the state's proficiency threshold in each subject. All three subjects show full or near-full student participation in testing, indicating that results reflect the full student population rather than a subset.
The student body is predominantly students of color, with Black and Hispanic students each making up a substantial portion of enrollment. A large majority of the school's students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting significant economic need in the area. The school does not report counts for students with disabilities or English learners, so baseline context on those populations is not available.
The school sits within Princeton City, a district that faced severe budget constraints in late 2024. A levy failed in November 2024, triggering immediate cuts including staff reductions, a hiring freeze, cuts to transportation and after-school activity buses, and threats to elementary school closures. In May 2025, voters approved an emergency operating levy to reverse these cuts and fund operations forward. This ongoing property-tax increase is directly tied to staffing, class sizes, programs, and the continued operation of school buildings. For families considering this school, that context matters: the district faced genuine structural stress and is now operating under a new revenue stream designed to stabilize it.
The school's location in Cincinnati places it in a city anchored by a downtown core, University of Cincinnati uptown, a robust public library system, and neighborhood-based civic life. The city is experiencing moderate growth with heavy development activity, particularly downtown, where a major convention district redevelopment is underway, and in fast-growing suburbs. Public transit includes Metro bus service and a free electric streetcar loop connecting downtown, Over-the-Rhine, and the riverfront entertainment district. The school is situated in a zip code where housing values have remained relatively stable and rental stock is moderately priced, though affordability has become tighter as the region draws more movers from other states and new apartment construction accelerates.
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