Original Research by School Decision on Eagles Elementary School
Eagles Elementary sits on University Drive in south Fargo, serving kindergarten through fifth grade as part of the Fargo 1 school district. It is a regular public school with an enrollment that sits in a comfortable mid-range for an elementary of its grade band, with students spread fairly evenly across the six grades. The school draws from a moderately diverse student body. White students form the largest group, with Black students representing the next largest share, followed by smaller Hispanic, Native American, Asian, and multiracial populations. About a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is below the level typically associated with concentrated poverty but still reflects a meaningful number of families accessing meal assistance. Data on English learners and students with IEPs was not available, so those populations cannot be characterized here.
The school's most recent state assessment results come from the 2024-25 administration of North Dakota's A-PLUS test. Because the assessment name and proficiency cut scores changed this year, trend comparisons to prior years are not reliable, so the results should be read as a standalone snapshot rather than part of a trajectory. In math, fifth graders posted the strongest results, with a majority scoring proficient or above. Third graders landed in a middling range, and fourth graders came in somewhat lower. English language arts results were weaker across the board. Third grade proficiency sat in a range below half, fourth grade was lower still, and fifth grade recovered somewhat but remained under half. Science, tested only in fourth grade, also came in below the midpoint. Participation was strong across all tested grades. Taken together, math is the relative bright spot, particularly in the upper grade, while ELA and science results suggest a portion of students are not yet meeting proficiency benchmarks. A parent may want to look into how the school supports literacy development and what interventions are in place for students performing below grade level.
The school sits in a part of Fargo that has benefited from the city's decades-long southward and westward expansion, driven initially by the construction of I-29 and I-94 and reinforced by major retail anchors near that interchange. Fargo itself is a mid-sized regional center with an economy built on healthcare, higher education, technology, and food processing. Sanford Health and Microsoft have both established regional campuses in the city, and North Dakota State University is a core civic and economic institution. Fargo Public Schools is itself one of the larger employers in the metro area. The broader Fargo-Moorhead region has maintained low unemployment relative to other U.S. metro areas, which helps stabilize the housing market and the school community.
Housing in the school's zip code carries typical home values above the state benchmark and modestly above the national benchmark, reflecting Fargo's growth and relative prosperity. Rents are similarly elevated compared with the rest of the state. Monthly mortgage costs run meaningfully higher than rents, so families weighing buying versus renting in this attendance area face a market where purchasing requires a stronger income position. Home values and rents have both been climbing modestly year over year.
The district brief for Fargo 1 did not surface specific recent changes such as curriculum shifts, referendums, or property-tax adjustments, so there is little to report on that front. Similarly, data on staffing ratios, course offerings, discipline, attendance, and Title I status was not available, which limits the picture of school climate and resource allocation. What the available evidence does show is a school in a stable, growing regional city, serving a diverse but not high-poverty elementary population, with math performance that outpaces its literacy and science results. Families considering Eagles would do well to ask the school directly about its reading instruction, its supports for students below proficiency, and how it serves English learners and students with disabilities, since those pieces of the picture are not visible in the data provided.
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