Original Research by School Decision on May-port Cg 14
May-Port CG 14 is a small, single-community public school district in Traill County, North Dakota, serving students from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade across three schools: Peter Boe Jr Elementary, May-Port CG Middle School, and May-Port CG High School. The enrollment is modest, with roughly even distribution across grade levels, which gives the district a continuity from early childhood through graduation under one organizational roof. The student body is predominantly white, with a small Hispanic presence and a handful of American Indian or Alaska Native, multiracial, Black, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students. Information on free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, individualized education program rates, and English learner status was not available, so the economic and special-population picture remains incomplete.
State testing results come from the current North Dakota A-PLUS assessment. Because the state changed both the assessment name and proficiency cut scores for this year, trend comparisons against prior years are not reliable, so what follows is a snapshot rather than a trajectory.
In math, the district shows a mixed but generally middling profile across the elementary and middle grades. Third grade lands around the midpoint, with roughly half of students reaching proficiency. Fourth grade dips noticeably, with only a smaller share demonstrating proficiency. Fifth and sixth grades recover to around half or slightly above, and seventh grade is a relative bright spot, with a clear majority proficient. Eighth grade settles back to around half. The pattern suggests some grade-to-grade variability that a parent might want to explore with the district, particularly the fourth-grade dip.
English language arts tells a more uneven story. Third, fourth, and fifth grades all sit below the midpoint, with roughly a third to just under half of students proficient. Then sixth grade jumps to a very strong level, with a large majority proficient, and seventh grade holds strong as well. Eighth grade drops back to the lower range seen in the elementary grades. That middle-grade strength in ELA is a genuine bright spot, but the eighth-grade decline is worth asking about. Science results are available only for fourth and eighth grades, and both land in the lower to middling range.
Participation rates across all tested grades and subjects are solid, hovering near full participation in most cases, which means the proficiency picture is not distorted by absent students.
The district sits in a cluster of small towns in Traill County. Housing data covers Mayville, Portland, Hillsboro, Buxton, Arthur, Hatton, and Reynolds, with Mayville and Portland carrying the most weight in the district's housing index. Home values across the district are below both the North Dakota state benchmark and the national benchmark, which positions the area as relatively affordable. Values have been rising at a brisk pace year over year, with Portland and Buxton seeing the steepest gains and Arthur standing as an outlier with a modest decline. Estimated monthly mortgage costs remain manageable against national median income figures, and the price-to-income ratio sits below the national level. Rental data was not available.
We looked for recent district-level changes such as strategic plans, leadership transitions, bond measures, or program launches and found little of lasting impact on record, so there is nothing to report there. A locale or community brief for the district was not provided, so the cultural and civic texture of the towns it serves is something a family would need to experience directly or research on their own. Program offerings, course access details, staffing ratios, discipline data, attendance patterns, and graduation rates were also not available in the materials reviewed. A comparison fact-set positioning this district among its county peers was not provided either.
What the available evidence does show is a small, stable rural district with uneven but sometimes strong academic results, affordable housing, and a compact school community where students stay with the same cohort from pre-kindergarten through senior year. The middle-grade ELA and math performance is encouraging. The elementary and eighth-grade soft spots are the areas a parent would most want to discuss with school staff before enrolling.
See more original research from School Decision →