Original Research by School Decision on Rita Murphy Elementary School
Rita Murphy Elementary sits on North 31st Street in Bismarck, part of the Bismarck Public School District, the largest school district in North Dakota. The school serves kindergarten through fifth grade in a city that functions as the state capital and the economic hub of south-central North Dakota. Bismarck's downtown core, with its small storefronts and restaurants, the Kirkwood Mall, and two major hospital systems, sits not far from the school, while the North Dakota State Capitol complex lies just north of downtown. The broader built environment beyond that compact core is more auto-oriented, with Interstate 94 shaping the city's layout and the Missouri River forming its western edge.
The school's enrollment is moderate for an elementary building in this district. Its student body is predominantly white, with representation from American Indian and Alaska Native families, multiracial students, Hispanic students, and smaller shares of Black and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students. About a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on English learners and special education enrollment was not available, so those population details remain unclear. The district itself has been growing steadily, and a bond referendum passed several years back funded new construction and facility improvements across Bismarck's schools, including a newly rebuilt Roosevelt Elementary that opened in the fall of 2024. That growth context shapes decisions about class sizes and school capacity across the district, including at Murphy.
On state testing, Murphy uses the ND A-PLUS assessment, which is a new assessment with revised proficiency cut scores this year. Because of those changes, trend comparisons to prior years are not reliable, so the results below should be read as a single-year snapshot rather than part of a trajectory. Participation was strong, with nearly all students tested across every grade and subject.
In math, proficiency rates across third and fourth grade landed in a lower-to-mid range, while fifth grade showed a modest uptick into a somewhat higher band. English language arts results followed a similar pattern, with third grade posting the lowest proficiency band, fourth grade slightly higher, and fifth grade reaching a middling range. Science, tested only in fourth grade, fell into a middling band as well. Across all three subjects, the overall picture is one where fewer than half of tested students reached proficiency in any given grade, with the strongest showing in fifth grade math. These are results a parent may want to look into further with the school, particularly to understand what instructional supports are in place and how the new assessment's cut scores compare to what families may have seen in prior years.
Because Rita Murphy is an elementary school, there is no graduation rate, no AP or dual-credit coursework, and no career pathway data to report. Those measures simply do not apply to this grade band. The data set also did not include information on Title I status, disciplinary practices, staffing ratios, attendance patterns, or specific program offerings such as music, art, or extracurriculars. Without those fields, the picture of daily school life here remains incomplete.
Housing in the school's zip code sits above the state benchmark for typical home values and below the national one, with values having risen at a healthy clip over the past year. Rents have climbed at an even steeper rate. For a family weighing buying versus renting, the estimated monthly mortgage cost in this area runs well above typical rent, which may factor into housing decisions for families considering the neighborhood. Median household income nationally has been rising modestly, and mortgage rates remain elevated relative to recent history.
Bismarck as a community offers a mix of civic life, outdoor recreation along the Missouri River, and proximity to state institutions and two colleges, Bismarck State College and the University of Mary. The city has been recognized for its steady growth, and the school district's continued investment in facilities reflects that trajectory. For a family looking at Rita Murphy, the school offers a regular public elementary experience within a growing, well-resourced district, paired with state assessment results that suggest room for academic growth. How the school responds to those results under a new testing framework will be worth watching.
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