Original Research by School Decision on Beulah Elementary School
Beulah Elementary School sits in a small North Dakota city that wears its industrial identity plainly. Beulah calls itself the "Energy Capital of North Dakota," and the landscape explains why. Coal gasification, lignite mining, and massive power plants with smokestacks visible for miles define the local economy. Yet the town also has residential neighborhoods, Main Street merchants, surrounding farmland, and Lake Sakakawea nearby for recreation. The city motto, "Small Town Appeal...Big City Looks," captures the aspiration. Publicly reported sources describe a population that has been slowly declining over recent decades, though civic messaging still frames Beulah as progressive and growing. It is a car-dependent place with no documented public transit, and the built environment is low-density small-town.
The school serves kindergarten through fourth grade as a regular public school within the Beulah 27 School District. Enrollment is moderate for an elementary building of this grade band, with relatively even distribution across the five grades. The student body is predominantly white, with a small Hispanic presence and smaller shares of American Indian or Alaska Native, multiracial, Black, and Asian students. The proportion of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch is modest, well below what many rural and small-town schools see. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not available, so those population details remain unknown here.
Academic results come from the ND A-PLUS assessment, which the state flags as a new assessment with changed cut scores. That means trend comparison to prior years is not possible, and the results stand as a baseline rather than a continuation of an established pattern. Participation was strong across all tested grades and subjects.
In mathematics, third-grade proficiency fell in a middling range, while fourth grade landed higher. Combined across tested grades, roughly half of students reached proficiency or above in math. English language arts told a softer story. Third grade came in lower than math, and fourth grade reached a middling range. The combined ELA proficiency rate sat just below half. Fourth-grade science results landed in a middling range as well, with the combined rate near half. Taken together, math appears to be the relative strength in this first reported year, while ELA is the area where fewer students are meeting the proficiency bar. A parent may want to look into how the school supports early literacy, particularly in the primary grades, given where third-grade ELA results landed.
The housing market in the school's zip code is more affordable than both the state and national benchmarks. Typical home values sit below the North Dakota state level and well below the national figure. The price-to-income ratio is moderate, and estimated monthly mortgage costs reflect current interest rates. Year-over-year home value growth has been positive but modest. Rental data was not available for this area, which is common in smaller markets where multifamily listings are thin.
Several data categories that parents sometimes look for were absent. No discipline, course access, staffing, or attendance information was provided. Title I status was not reported. Civil rights data and program offerings were not available. The district brief search turned up no recent parent-relevant changes such as referendums, curriculum shifts, or property-tax moves. This does not mean nothing is happening at the district level, only that the search did not surface it. For a school serving only the early elementary grades, there is no graduation rate, and state testing begins at third grade, so kindergarten through second grade are not reflected in the assessment data.
Beulah Elementary fits families looking for a small-town setting where the local economy is tied to energy production and the cost of housing is relatively manageable. The academic picture is mixed in its first year under a new state assessment, with math ahead of reading. The community is tight-knit and rooted in industry, with outdoor recreation close at hand. Parents weighing this school would benefit from asking directly about early literacy instruction, support services, and staffing ratios, since those details did not appear in the available data.
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