Original Research by School Decision on John Hoeven Elementary School
John Hoeven Elementary School sits on Minot's southeast side, serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as part of the Minot 1 public school district. It is a regular public school with an enrollment that is mid-sized for an elementary building in this area. The student body is predominantly white, with smaller representation across Hispanic, multiracial, Black, and American Indian students, plus a few Asian and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students. About a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Information on English learner status and individualized education plan rates was not available in the data we received, so those pieces of the support picture remain unclear.
The most recent state assessment results come from North Dakota's A-PLUS test, administered in the current school year. Because the state changed both the assessment name and proficiency cut scores this year, trend comparisons against prior years are not possible. Participation was strong, with nearly all students tested across each grade.
Math results were moderate and fairly consistent across the three tested grades. Third, fourth, and fifth graders each landed in a similar proficiency range, suggesting steady if unremarkable performance in mathematics. Science, tested only in fourth grade, came in at a comparable moderate level.
English language arts tells a more uneven story. Third grade proficiency was moderate, in line with the math results. Fourth grade dropped somewhat. Fifth grade fell further, with only a small fraction of students reaching proficiency. That decline across the grade bands is worth a parent's attention, and a parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand what is driving the drop and what supports are in place for upper-grade reading and writing.
Minot itself is a mid-sized regional hub for northern North Dakota and parts of neighboring Manitoba and Saskatchewan, rooted in its origins as a Great Northern Railway town and still known locally as the Magic City. The presence of Minot Air Force Base roughly fifteen miles north shapes the city's economy and population, with military families cycling through the area. The city is largely auto-oriented, with a historic downtown core along Main Street and Broadway and residential neighborhoods spreading outward across flat terrain. The Souris River winds through from west to east. Publicly reported sources note that the city experienced a devastating flood along the Souris River that damaged a large portion of Minot, prompting extensive rebuilding and Army Corps of Engineers flood-control work. Population has been relatively stable with slight decline in recent estimates. The broader Bakken oil boom to the west brought some spillover demand earlier in the decade, but that has moderated.
Housing in the school's zip code is affordable relative to national benchmarks. Home values sit well below the national typical home value, and rents are modest. Estimated monthly mortgage costs run higher than typical rent, meaning renting is the cheaper monthly option in this area. Rent burden as a share of income is low compared with many parts of the country. For families considering buying, the price-to-income ratio is favorable relative to the national figure.
At the district level, Minot 1 has been exploring redistricting and boundary changes tied to school capacity and enrollment balance, including possible closure or repurposing of buildings as part of long-term facilities planning. North Dakota has also expanded open enrollment policies, giving families more flexibility to choose schools within and across district lines. Both developments could affect school assignments and options for families in the Minot area in coming years.
No program offerings, staffing details, discipline data, or attendance information were included in the data we received, so those aspects of the school environment could not be assessed here. State testing data and demographic information form the core of what is available. A family weighing John Hoeven would want to visit and ask directly about upper-grade literacy supports, given the fifth grade English language arts results, and about how any district redistricting might affect attendance boundaries for this building.
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