Summary:
ZIP code 45013 has two middle schools: Ross Middle School, which serves grades 6–8 in the Ross Local district with 628 students, and Wilson Middle School, which serves grades 7–8 in Hamilton City with 587 students. Because Wilson does not serve sixth grade, sixth-grade results and enrollment figures are not directly comparable, but the two schools otherwise offer families in this area a clear side-by-side choice.
Ross is the academic standout. Its state school rank climbed from 142 of 1,046 in 2023–24 to 108 of 1,036 in 2024–25 to 69 of 1,046 in 2025–26 — 93rd percentile and 5 stars. It scored above the state in every reported subject: Math 8 at 90.4% versus 52%, Science 8 at 88% versus 61.2%, ELA 8 at 84.9% versus 58.3%, ELA 7 at 86.6% versus 62.7%, Math 6 at 76.2% versus 56.2%, ELA 6 at 73.2% versus 56%, and Math 7 at 70% versus 48.6%. Chronic absenteeism is 8.9%, below its district's 10.3%.
Wilson's profile is lower overall — 641 of 1,046, or 39th percentile and 2 stars, down from 55th percentile a year earlier — and its chronic absenteeism of 33.6% means roughly one in three students is chronically absent, compared with about one in eleven at Ross. Wilson does have real bright spots: Algebra I End of Course proficiency was 100% in both 2025–26 and 2024–25, well above state (61.6% and 59.4%), and eighth-grade math exceeded the state both years (61.2% versus 52% and 59.4% versus 47.6%). Its Science 8, Math 7, ELA 7, and ELA 8 scores were below state. Student-teacher ratios are nearly identical (19.7 and 19.5), so staffing alone does not explain the gap, and Wilson's free/reduced lunch figure is unknown.
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