Original Research by School Decision on Elgin-new Leipzig Elementary School
Elgin-New Leipzig Elementary School sits in the town of Elgin, a small, entirely rural community in Grant County, North Dakota. The town was platted as a Northern Pacific Railroad townsite and retains the compact footprint of a prairie railroad town. Farming and ranching are described as the economic backbone of the surrounding area. The largest single employer is Jacobson Memorial Hospital Care Center, a critical access hospital with a round-the-clock emergency room and affiliated clinics. Beyond healthcare, the economy runs on agriculture. The Elgin Public Library serves as a community cultural center. No formal public transit or parks systems were identified, which is consistent with a community of this size.
Elgin has experienced steady population decline over decades, a trajectory typical of small rural Great Plains communities. No major new housing developments or growth projects were identified. The median household income sits below what many suburban families would expect, with a poverty rate that reflects the economic challenges of a small agricultural town. These conditions shape the school community but do not define its academic possibilities.
The school serves pre-kindergarten through sixth grade and is a regular public school within the Elgin-New Leipzig 49 district. Enrollment is small, with roughly a dozen or fewer students per grade level. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is majority white, with Hispanic students and students of two or more races each making up a visible portion. American Indian, Asian, and Black students are each present in very small numbers. The school does not report data for English learners or students with individualized education programs, so we cannot characterize those populations.
State assessment results come from North Dakota's A-PLUS test, administered in the current school year. Because the school serves only through sixth grade, seventh and eighth grade results that appear in the data set may reflect a district-level or shared configuration rather than this school's own classrooms. The state reports proficiency as ranges rather than exact figures, which is common for schools with small testing cohorts.
In math, the overall proficiency rate sits just above the midpoint. Looking across grade levels, fourth grade results land in a lower range, fifth grade shows a clear improvement into a solidly proficient band, and sixth grade reaches a very high range. The seventh grade figure, if attributable to this school's students, lands in a strong range, while the eighth grade figure drops sharply to the lowest band.
In English language arts, the overall proficiency rate sits around the midpoint. Grade-level results are spread across the middle ranges, with fourth and eighth grade at the lower end of the middle band and fifth and sixth grade reaching higher. No grade reaches the very top range in ELA, but none falls to the bottom either.
In science, only two grade levels are tested. The overall proficiency rate is near the midpoint. Fourth grade science results land in a low range, while eighth grade science reaches the middle band.
No multi-year trend data is available, so it is not possible to say whether these results are improving, holding steady, or declining. The assessment itself underwent a name and cut-score change this year, which means comparisons to prior years would not be reliable even if older data were present.
The school has no graduation rate, as it does not serve high school grades. No data on course access, staffing ratios, attendance, or discipline was available, so those dimensions cannot be characterized. Housing values and rental data specific to this area were not provided. No comparison fact-set positioning this school against its county neighbors was available, so its relative standing among peer schools cannot be stated. No information on program offerings, extracurriculars, or specialized academic pathways was provided. The district brief yielded no parent-relevant changes such as referendums, curriculum shifts, or property tax adjustments.
What the data does show is a small rural elementary school with mixed but generally middling state assessment results, a student body facing real economic challenges, and a community in gradual contraction. Sixth grade math stands out as a bright spot. Fourth grade results across subjects are the weakest area, and a parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand what supports are in place for early elementary learners.
See more original research from School Decision →