Original Research by School Decision on Westside Elementary School
Westside Elementary School sits in West Fargo, a fast-growing suburb directly west of Fargo along the I-94 corridor. The city has transitioned from its meatpacking roots into a spread of residential subdivisions, retail strips, and technology offices, with a car-dependent layout and limited walkable street life. Growth here has been sustained and rapid, enough to push the West Fargo Public Schools district to build out across a broad service area that includes parts of southwestern Fargo, Reile's Acres, Horace, and Harwood. The district now operates multiple elementary buildings, three middle schools, and four high schools, and Westside is one piece of that expanding footprint. We looked for recent parent-relevant changes in the district and found little that could be confirmed, so we left that out rather than guess.
Westside is a regular public school serving kindergarten through fifth grade, with enrollment evenly spread across the six grade levels. The student body is predominantly white, with small shares of Black, Hispanic, multiracial, and American Indian or Alaska Native students. About a quarter of the school qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, which is a modest level relative to many schools serving similar suburban communities. We did not find data on English learners or students with individualized education programs, nor on Title I status, so those pieces of the picture are missing from what we have.
On the most recent state assessment, the ND A-PLUS, Westside's results show a clear pattern: math proficiency rises meaningfully from third grade through fifth grade, with third grade landing in a lower range and fifth grade reaching a higher band. This upward arc across grades is a positive signal, suggesting students build skills as they move through the school. English language arts tells a different story. Third-grade ELA proficiency sits in a notably lower range, fourth grade comes in higher, and fifth grade falls back somewhat. The third-grade ELA result is the school's weakest reported number, and a parent may want to look into this further with the school, particularly around early literacy instruction and reading support. Science was tested only in fourth grade, and the proficiency range there was moderate. Across all tested grades combined, the school's overall math proficiency sits higher than its overall ELA and science figures.
One caveat the data itself flags: North Dakota changed its assessment name and cut scores for this testing cycle, so the state notes that trend comparisons to prior years are not yet reliable. This means we cannot say whether these results represent improvement, decline, or stability relative to past performance. Participation rates were strong across grades, ranging from high to very high, which gives the results reasonable credibility.
The housing market around Westside reflects the broader growth story. Home values in the school's zip code sit above the North Dakota state benchmark and roughly in line with the national benchmark. Values have been rising modestly year over year. Renting is meaningfully cheaper than carrying a mortgage at current interest rates, which may matter for families deciding between buying and renting into this attendance zone. The price-to-income ratio is moderate by national standards, and the local unemployment picture is stable.
Publicly reported information about West Fargo describes a city with a small-town self-image but metropolitan access, heavy reliance on driving, and a park district with extensive paths and recreational facilities. Schools are spread across separated campuses rather than clustered in a traditional downtown, consistent with the suburban growth pattern. For a family considering Westside, the school offers a fairly typical suburban elementary experience in a district expanding to keep up with population growth, with math results that strengthen across grade levels and ELA results that warrant a closer conversation about early reading.
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