The top reported proficiency rate is 14% in Science. The lowest is 1% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Camp Curtin Academy
Camp Curtin Academy is a public middle school serving grades six through eight in Harrisburg, located in the city's North Shore neighborhood on North Sixth Street. The school draws nearly all of its enrollment from students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic composition of the city, and has a student body that is majority Black, with a substantial share of Hispanic students and a small number of other races represented.
The school's most recent state test results show proficiency rates that are well below the state norm. In English language arts, fewer than one in ten students tested met proficiency standards. In mathematics, the rate was even lower, with only a handful of students scoring at proficient levels out of a tested group of over five hundred. In science, the proficiency rate was higher but still at a low single-digit percentage of those tested. Relative to the other districts in Dauphin County, Camp Curtin's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile. Academic support and skill-building appear to be central needs here.
The school sits within the Harrisburg City School District, which has undergone major structural and operational changes that directly affect what Camp Curtin offers families. In June 2025, the district exited state receivership, meaning the elected school board resumed full decision-making authority after years of state control. That exit came with a five-year monitoring phase and ongoing state advisory support, shaping the constraints under which the district will operate. More immediately, a district-wide reconfiguration approved in 2024 consolidated all middle school students into two schools: Camp Curtin Academy and Marshall Math Science Academy. Rowland Middle School is being phased out. Camp Curtin's enrollment is projected to grow substantially as this transition completes, which will add new classrooms and a second cafeteria to accommodate the shift.
The district also approved a property tax increase for 2025-26, the first in several years, with explicit acknowledgment that further increases are likely ahead. Federal pandemic funds have ended, the city's taxable property values have declined, and recovery plan requirements are creating budget pressure. Families choosing Harrisburg schools should expect continuing annual school tax increases.
On curriculum and instruction, the district has launched a corrective reading program at the elementary level and is adding post-secondary preparation at the high school in response to persistent academic gaps across the system. These are the main levers the district is pulling to improve outcomes; implementation and impact will unfold over time.
Harrisburg itself is anchored by state government employment and downtown civic life, with Riverfront Park, the Capitol grounds, and an arts district making the city more walkable and livelier than most suburban areas. The housing market is tight, with home values and rents modest compared to the statewide benchmark and prices moving upward. The city is attracting in-migration from the Philadelphia and Washington D.C. corridors, and a new Affordable Housing Development Fund was launched in 2025 to expand lower-cost options.
For a family considering Camp Curtin, the school offers a neighborhood middle school experience within a district that is rebuilding after receivership and making strategic curricular moves to address achievement gaps. The test results show that academic proficiency is quite low, and a parent may want to look into further detail with the school about how reading and mathematics are being supported, what progress the corrective reading program is showing, and how the school's growth from the consolidation will be managed in terms of class sizes and staffing. The context is one of transition and investment, not stasis.
See more original research from School Decision →