Summary:
ZIP code 45206 in Cincinnati contains just two schools, both listed as elementary but actually serving students into the middle grades: Frederick Douglass School (PK–7, 229 students, part of Cincinnati Public Schools) and Empowered by the Arts Academy (K–8, 190 students, operating as its own single-school district). The two campuses sit only a few blocks apart, yet their results look very different.
Frederick Douglass School is the stronger of the two and the clearest improver. Its state rank climbed 244 positions over two years, from the 10th to the 24th percentile, and 5th grade English Language Arts reached 75.9% proficient — above both its district (58.7%) and the state of Ohio (70.4%). Fifth grade Science (55.2%) also beat the district. Weak spots remain serious: 4th and 5th grade math fell to 13.6% and 13.8%, far below district and state, and chronic absenteeism is 64.2%, roughly 20 points above its own district average, meaning about two of every three students are chronically absent.
Empowered by the Arts Academy is the area's biggest concern. It has ranked at the 0–1st percentile with zero stars for three straight years, and in 2024‑25 nine of its 13 reported tests were exactly 0.0% proficient — including every reported math test in grades 4 through 8. Its best result was 20% in 3rd grade ELA, against 61.3% statewide, and its absenteeism is the zip's highest at 67.0%. Its trend is technically upward, but from the very bottom. Parents should note the data gaps: free/reduced lunch figures are blank for both schools, spending numbers date to 2018‑19, and the two schools' test scores come from different years, so direct comparisons are directional at best.
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