Original Research by School Decision on Finley-sharon High School
Finley-Sharon High School is a regular public school serving grades seven through twelve in the small community of Finley, North Dakota. It sits within the Finley-Sharon 19 district, which recently broadened its grade span to include pre-kindergarten, meaning families with young children can now find early childhood education within the district rather than looking elsewhere. That change speaks to a district trying to hold its community together by serving families from the earliest years through graduation.
The school is small, even by rural North Dakota standards, with an enrollment that fits within a single classroom per grade. Grade sizes vary, with the largest cohort in the freshman class and thinner numbers in the upper grades. The student body is predominantly white, with a small number of students identifying as American Indian or Alaska Native, Hispanic, and two or more races. Just over half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which gives a picture of a working-class rural community where a substantial share of families meet income-eligibility thresholds.
On state assessments for the most recent year, the school shows a clear split between subjects. English language arts proficiency sits at a moderate level, with roughly half of tested students meeting proficiency standards. Math and science tell a different story, with proficiency falling well below that mark. Only a single year of data is available, so there is no trend to observe, no way to tell whether these results represent a dip or a longer-standing pattern. A parent considering this school may want to ask the administration how math and science instruction is structured, what interventions are in place, and how recent these challenges are.
Several pieces of information that would help round out a parent's understanding are missing. IEP and English learner rates were not reported, so the extent of special-education services or language-support needs cannot be characterized from the available data. No graduation rate appears in the records, and no staffing, attendance, or disciplinary figures were provided. Course access information, which would show whether the school offers advanced coursework, career and technical education, or dual-credit options, was also absent. Without these, it is hard to say much about the academic program beyond what the test results show. A family would need to go directly to the school for those details.
The locale brief for Finley and Steele County did not return usable content, so there is little to say here about the local economy, major employers, or community character from the sourced data. What can be said is that Finley is a small town in a rural county, and the school's enrollment and demographic profile are consistent with that setting. The district's recent move to add pre-kindergarten suggests an effort to stabilize enrollment and serve families more comprehensively, which in a small district often reflects concern about population trends and the desire to keep families in the community rather than open-enrolling elsewhere.
No neighbor comparison data was available, so there is no way to position Finley-Sharon against nearby districts on enrollment, proficiency, or economic indicators. Civil rights data was also not provided.
What the available evidence paints is a very small rural school in a district taking steps to widen its reach. The academic picture is mixed, with reasonable ELA results and real weakness in math and science. Families looking at this school should weigh the intimacy and community closeness that come with a tiny enrollment against the questions raised by the assessment data and the gaps in what is publicly reported.
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