The top reported proficiency rate is 75% in Science. The lowest is 64% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Crestview Middle School
Crestview Middle School serves grades five through eight in Columbiana, a small city in northeastern Ohio straddling Columbiana and Mahoning counties, about midway between Cleveland and Pittsburgh. The school sits within Crestview Local district, which has just broken ground on a new consolidated PreK-12 campus on Crestview Road. That building is expected to open for the 2026-27 school year, fundamentally reshaping the physical and social environment families will encounter here.
The school's enrollment of roughly mid-sized for its grade band is majority white, with a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. Race and ethnicity data shows the student body is nearly all white, with very small numbers of Hispanic and multiracial students reported. Data on the percentage of students receiving special education services and English learner counts were not available.
On state testing, Crestview Middle's proficiency results are mixed. In English language arts, most students scored at proficient or above, showing strength in reading and writing. Science performance is stronger still, with a majority of students reaching proficiency. Math proficiency lags behind both subjects, with roughly three in five students meeting the standard. These results place the school above the midpoint among districts in Columbiana County when looking at overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades, a sign that the school is performing above some of its county peers, though below the highest-performing ones. Only one year of data was available for comparison, so trend information could not be assessed.
Columbiana itself is a community in transition. Publicly reported, the town was named Reader's Digest "Nicest Place in America" and markets itself as "The City with the Small-Town Heart." A walkable historic downtown anchors the community, with Main Street, the distinctive roundabout at Park Avenue, cafés, shops, and civic spaces. A separate growth zone is emerging around Firestone Farms near state routes 7 and 14, where new housing developments, the Town Center commercial plaza, Ill Will Brewing, and a planned Salem Regional Medical Center clinic are rising. The district created a Community Reinvestment Area that exempts new home construction from property tax for a set term, fueling residential growth but also creating long-term tax implications the superintendent has flagged as a concern.
Housing values in the 44408 zip code are roughly in line with Ohio state benchmarks, and the area's affordability is moderate compared to national standards. Median household income statewide is strong, and unemployment is stable. The local job market includes small manufacturing, foundries, healthcare at Salem Regional Medical Center, and retail. Many residents also commute to Youngstown or Pittsburgh for work.
The district's major ongoing change is the consolidation of its formerly separate elementary and middle/high school buildings into a single PreK-12 campus. That project is funded through a multi-mill bond issue approved by voters and state support from the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission. The new building will include flexible learning environments, pod-style academic areas, a kindergarten wing, and a new competition gym. Notably, the district separately funded a roughly mid-sized athletic complex from its general fund because the new school will not include locker rooms or weight rooms. That complex, now in use, houses retractable batting cages and wrestling space and serves as the hub for student athletes across all sports.
Crestview Middle is a regular public school serving a rural-to-suburban community where growth and tradition coexist. The incoming consolidated campus represents a significant physical investment and will alter how students experience school and community. For families considering the area, the math proficiency gap warrants conversation with the school, and the property tax bond obligation tied to new housing is a concrete factor in cost-of-living calculations.
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