The Harrisburg School District’s administration building
The Harrisburg school board will hold a public hearing this spring around the planned closure of two middle schools.
Acting in line with a comprehensive facilities plan that began in 2023, the board voted to formally recommend the closure of Rowland Academy and Marshall Academy (separate from Marshall Math and Science Academy) at a board meeting Tuesday night.
Rowland Academy has been phasing out of middle school operations for the last three years. It currently serves only 8th grade students, who will graduate to high school at the end of this school year. Following their graduation, the district plans to close the middle school. Camp Curtin has absorbed students who would have attended Rowland.
The district also recommended the formal closure of Marshall Academy, a middle school program provisionally closed in the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year. The non-STEM Marshall Academy operated out of the same building as the still active STEM-focused magnet Marshall Math and Science Academy.
The schools shared the same faculty and principal. However, the programs were registered under different state codes—and while the STEM program required applications, the general program operated on home area status.
According to district officials Tuesday, students who attended the general program prior to the 2024-2025 school year were absorbed into the Math and Science Academy.
Moving forward, the district’s middle schools will consist of: Camp Curtin (6-8), the blended-learning/hybrid Cougar Academy (K-12), and Marshall Math and Science Academy (6-8).
Per the Pennsylvania Public School Code, the board will hold a public hearing surrounding the closures on March 31 at 6 p.m. at the district’s administration building.
Under state law, such a hearing must take place three months before the district votes on the closures.
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