Original Research by School Decision on Westhope Elementary School
Westhope Elementary School sits on Main Street in the heart of Westhope, a very small rural community in Bottineau County, North Dakota. The town was founded along a Great Northern Railway branch line, with residents of nearby Richburg, Scotia, and Sergious relocating to the new townsite in its early years. Today Westhope has a compact grid of residential streets, a Main Street commercial core, and a surrounding agricultural area. The community has experienced long-term population decline rather than growth, with no major new housing developments or growth initiatives identified in publicly available sources. City Hall sits on 1st Avenue, and the town's civic and educational functions occupy the same tiny footprint rather than separate campuses. A local golf club and city parks provide recreational amenities, though no public library or transit system was identified for a community of this size.
The school serves pre-kindergarten through sixth grade as a regular public school in the Westhope 17 district. Enrollment is small, as one would expect for a town of this scale. The student body is predominantly white, with small numbers of American Indian or Alaska Native students and Hispanic students, and a few students identifying as two or more races. About a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on individualized education programs and English learner populations was not available. The district brief turned up no recent referendums, curriculum changes, property-tax shifts, or other lasting parent-relevant changes from the last several years.
State assessment results come from the 2024-25 school year under North Dakota's A-PLUS assessment, which is newly introduced. Because the assessment name and proficiency cut scores have changed, trend comparisons to prior years are not yet possible. The state reports proficiency in ranges rather than exact figures for this school, a practice that generally reflects very small tested cohorts where precise results could identify individual students. Participation rates across tested grades and subjects sit below the level most states target.
In mathematics, proficiency ranges span from the lower end of mid-range in third grade to solidly mid-range in fifth grade, then dip in the upper grades tested. English language arts proficiency follows a similar pattern, with fifth grade showing the weakest range and other grades clustered in the low-to-mid range. Science, tested in eighth grade, shows a lower proficiency range. The all-subject summary places math proficiency in the mid-range, English language arts below that, and science at the lower end.
One wrinkle worth naming: the school's listed grade span runs through sixth grade, but state testing data includes seventh and eighth grade results. The data does not explain this gap. A parent with questions about which grades are actually served and tested at this building may want to look into this further with the school or district.
Housing in Westhope is inexpensive relative to both North Dakota and national benchmarks. Typical home values in the school's zip code fall well below the state median, which itself sits below the national figure. Year-over-year, local home values have declined while state and national values have held steady or risen. The price-to-income ratio suggests housing costs remain modest relative to earnings, and estimated monthly mortgage costs are low. Rental data was not available for this area, so families considering renting rather than buying would need to look locally for current options.
The broader economic context shows a national unemployment rate holding steady and median household income that has grown gradually over the past decade. Mortgage rates have fluctuated in a narrow band in recent months.
For a family weighing this school, the picture is one of a very
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