The top reported proficiency rate is 85% in Math. The lowest is 74% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Harding Middle School
Harding Middle School serves grades five through eight in Steubenville, a small Ohio River industrial city that has experienced long-term population decline but is undergoing selective downtown and commercial revitalization. The school enrolls a diverse student body that is roughly split between white students and students of color, with the largest racial group being Black students and a secondary population of multiracial students. The enrollment is distributed fairly evenly across the four grades.
On state assessments, Harding performs well in math, where the vast majority of students meet or exceed proficiency. Performance in science is solid. English language arts trails both, and social studies proficiency is notably lower across all grade levels. A parent reviewing these results would see strength in quantitative reasoning paired with measurably weaker ground in humanities. The school tested nearly all students across subjects, indicating robust participation.
Steubenville City Schools has undertaken substantial structural shifts in its STEM pathway. The district opened the Pugliese STEM Academy, a major addition to the high school completed in 2024, with new college-credit and career-technical programs in aerospace, health informatics, biomedical science, clean energy, computer-aided drafting, and related fields. More broadly, the district is rolling out Project Lead the Way (PLTW) curriculum K-12, beginning with engineering and design at the elementary level and progressing through middle and high school engineering and biomedical science tracks. Harding earned PLTW Distinguished School status at the Gateway level, meaning the school has embedded this structured engineering and design curriculum at the middle grades. All six of the district's schools—including Harding—now carry PLTW Distinguished status, and the district itself became a PLTW Distinguished District for the first time in 2025-26. For a family choosing a middle school, this signals access to a consistent, standards-aligned STEM pathway that feeds upward into the newly expanded high school career offerings.
Housing in the 43952 zip code is affordable on national and state scales. Median home values are well below both state and national benchmarks, and rental costs are modest. Monthly mortgage estimates and rent-to-income ratios both sit comfortably below national medians, placing this area within reach for families with moderate incomes. The housing stock is older, with many homes predating the mid-twentieth century, which is typical of older industrial towns.
Steubenville's economy has contracted significantly since the decline of steel manufacturing, though health services, education, and regional institutions like Franciscan University and Trinity Medical Center West remain substantial employers. The city is pursuing commercial and housing redevelopment grants and has seen small new investment in retail and dining. Downtown has grown a network of murals and street festivals on Fourth Street, creating a walkable civic core, though the underlying population trend continues downward. Families should understand that this is a place in economic transition, with modest local job growth and declining schools enrollment, though public investment in STEM infrastructure signals a deliberate effort to prepare students for jobs beyond the region's traditional economy.
State assessment data was available only for the 2024-25 school year, so multi-year trend analysis was not possible. Data on free-or-reduced-price lunch eligibility, special education enrollment, and English learner enrollment were not reported by the school, leaving gaps in the full demographic and needs picture. Compared to the five other school districts in Jefferson County for which proficiency data was available, Harding's combined proficiency index across tested subjects places it in the top quartile, a meaningful position that reflects both the school's test performance and the county context.
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