Original Research by School Decision on Highland Acres Elementary School
Highland Acres Elementary sits on Prairie Drive in Bismarck, serving kindergarten through fifth grade as part of Bismarck Public School District 1. It is a small school by any measure, with roughly one class per grade level. That scale shapes much of what a family would experience here: a tight community where children and staff likely know each other across grades, but also a setting with fewer sections per grade, which limits peer-group variety.
The student body is predominantly white, with a small number of students from other racial and ethnic backgrounds. Economic disadvantage is low, with only a handful of students qualifying for free or reduced-price meals. This places Highland Acres among the less economically diverse schools in the district, which is a characteristic worth knowing rather than a judgment either way. Information on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not reported, so those figures are absent here; a parent wanting to understand special-population services would need to ask the school directly.
On state assessments, the picture is mixed but generally encouraging in the upper grades. North Dakota transitioned to the ND A-PLUS assessment, and because the test name and proficiency cut scores changed, trend comparisons with prior years are not reliable. What the current results show is that fourth graders performed well in math and English language arts, landing in the upper portion of the proficiency range for both subjects. Fourth-grade science results were particularly strong. Third-grade math was the soft spot, with proficiency in the lower range, and a parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand whether this reflects a cohort issue or something structural in early-grade instruction. Fifth-grade results were mid-range in math and strong in English language arts. Across all tested grades, the school's overall proficiency in science stood out as a clear strength.
Bismarck itself is the state capital and the economic center of south-central North Dakota. State government is the dominant employer, and two large hospital systems operate downtown. The city has grown steadily, with a compact historic core, Kirkwood Mall concentrated in the city center rather than out in the suburbs, and the North Dakota State Capitol complex just north of downtown. Beyond that core, the built environment is more auto-oriented, with Interstate 94 running through the city. The Missouri River forms the western edge and provides boating, fishing, and trails. For families, this means access to civic amenities, a regional healthcare system, and a growing but still manageable city.
The housing market in the school's zip code sits above the statewide benchmark but below the national one. Home values have been climbing, and rents have risen more sharply. Renting remains considerably less expensive monthly than carrying a mortgage at current rates, which may matter for families weighing whether to buy into the attendance area. The price-to-income ratio is elevated relative to the national figure, reflecting the broader affordability pressure in a growing capital city.
Bismarck Public Schools is the largest district in North Dakota and continues to grow. The district passed a bond referendum in 2020 that funded new construction and facility improvements, including the rebuild and reopening of Roosevelt Elementary in fall 2024. That investment reflects a district managing enrollment pressure across its buildings. For Highland Acres, the district context means the school operates within a system actively adding capacity and modernizing facilities, even if this specific building has not been named in those recent projects.
Data on staffing ratios, discipline, attendance, course access, and Title I status was not available. Civil rights data was also absent. These gaps limit the picture of school climate and resource allocation. A parent evaluating Highland Acres would do well to visit and ask about class sizes, support staff, and how the school serves students who need additional help, since the data here does not answer those questions.
What the available information does say is that Highland Acres is a small, community-oriented elementary school with a relatively advantaged student population and solid academic results in the upper elementary grades, particularly in science and English language arts. Its weakest spot is early-grade math. For a family seeking a smaller school environment within a growing capital-city district, this is a reasonable starting point, with the caveat that several pieces of the school-profile puzzle are missing from the public data.
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