Original Research by School Decision on P S Berg Elementary School
P S Berg Elementary is a regular public elementary school in Dickinson, North Dakota, serving kindergarten through fifth grade as part of the Dickinson 1 school district. The school sits on the west side of a city that functions as the regional hub for southwestern North Dakota, a place reshaped by the Bakken oil boom of the 2010s. Dickinson's economy runs on oil and gas, coal, agriculture, manufacturing, and regional health care, with Dickinson State University adding an academic presence. The downtown core has a walkable strip of local shops and restaurants, but the broader city is auto-oriented, built around Interstate 94 and ND Highway 22. Transit is a dial-a-ride service rather than fixed routes. For a family considering P S Berg, the setting is a mid-sized prairie city with boom-town growth pressures and a spread-out, low-density layout.
The school is small for its grade band, with one class per grade level. Its student body is predominantly white, with a Hispanic presence and a smaller American Indian and Alaska Native population. 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 populations cannot be characterized here.
On the most recent state assessment, ND A-PLUS, proficiency results were generally low across subjects and grades, though they rose with grade level in math. Third-grade math and ELA both fell in the lowest reported range. Fourth-grade results were slightly stronger but still in the lower-to-middle bands. Fifth-grade math was the relative standout, reaching the middle range, while fifth-grade ELA remained lower. Science, tested only in fourth grade, also landed in the lowest reported band. Participation rates were solid at the upper elementary level and slightly lower in the earlier grades. Because this is the first year under a new assessment with changed cut scores, no trend data is available, so there is no way to tell whether these results reflect a temporary dip from the transition or a longer-standing pattern. A parent may want to ask the school how it is interpreting these baseline results and what supports are in place for reading and math in the early grades.
The school has no graduation rate because it does not serve high school grades. No data on program offerings, staffing, discipline, attendance, Title I status, or civil rights indicators was available, so those dimensions cannot be described. The district-level search turned up no parent-relevant changes such as bond issues, facility projects, or curriculum shifts in the recent period.
Housing in the school's zip code sits above the North Dakota state benchmark but below the national one. Home values have been rising, while rents have dipped slightly over the past year. Renting remains cheaper than carrying a mortgage at current rates, which may matter for families weighing whether to buy into the attendance zone. The broader housing market reflects Dickinson's boom-bust trajectory, with vacancy patterns that hint at the pressures the city has absorbed.
What the picture amounts to is a small, neighborhood-scale elementary school in a growing regional city, with a student body that reflects Dickinson's working and middle-class mix. Its academic results on the new state assessment are low in the early grades and somewhat stronger by fifth grade in math, but the absence of trend data makes it hard to read direction. Families weighing P S Berg would benefit from asking the school directly about early-grade interventions, how staff are responding to the new assessment baseline, and what the classroom experience looks like day to day.
See more original research from School Decision →