The top reported proficiency rate is 27% in English language arts. The lowest is 0% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Dodge Elementary School
Dodge Elementary serves students from preschool through fifth grade in Grand Island, Nebraska, as part of the Grand Island Public Schools district. The school sits on the south side of the city, near its O Street address in a residential stretch of this mid-sized regional hub. Grand Island itself is a manufacturing and retail center for central Nebraska, anchored by employers like Hornady, CHI Health St. Francis, and over ninety manufacturing plants. The city is largely auto-dependent, with a demand-responsive transit system rather than fixed-route buses, and its historic Railside district downtown offers a more concentrated walkable area.
The student body is diverse and predominantly Hispanic. The enrollment is substantial for an elementary school serving these grades. A large majority of students are Hispanic, with White students making up a smaller share, followed by Black students, and small numbers of students identifying as two or more races, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. The school does not report the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, nor the count of students with an Individualized Education Program or those classified as English learners. A parent may want to ask the school directly about these supports.
State assessment results show significant challenges in academic proficiency across tested subjects. In English language arts, third-grade students had a proficiency rate that was modest, while fourth-grade students performed at a higher level. Fifth-grade students, however, had no students reaching proficiency. In mathematics, no students in third, fourth, or fifth grade scored at the proficient level. Science assessment results for fifth grade also showed no students reaching proficiency. When looking across all grades and subjects in a single school year, the overall proficiency rate was very low, and this placed the school in the bottom quartile among the four districts in Hall County. A multi-year trend for English language arts shows the combined rate across grades was similarly modest, with some variation across grade levels but no clear upward movement. The math trend over the same period was also very low, and science has remained at zero for the years reported.
Housing in the zip code area around Dodge Elementary is moderately priced compared to national benchmarks. Home values are below the state average but above the typical national figure. Rents are below the national median, and the estimated monthly mortgage payment, based on current interest rates, is above the rent level for a similar property, making renting more affordable than buying at this moment. The broader economic context shows a stable national unemployment rate and modest growth in shelter costs.
The district itself recently opened a new elementary school, Starr Elementary, a few years ago, which affected attendance boundaries and overall capacity. Beyond that, the district brief shows few recent changes that would directly shift a family’s experience, so a parent should expect the school’s programs and staffing to be fairly settled unless further developments have occurred since this data was collected.
For a family considering Dodge Elementary, the central takeaway is the academic data. The proficiency results are the weakest part of the profile. The school serves a diverse, largely Hispanic community in a mid-size industrial city with a range of civic amenities, but the state testing numbers point to a setting where many students are not yet meeting grade-level expectations. A parent would likely want to learn more about the school’s approach to instruction, intervention, and support for students who are behind, as well as the specific programs and services the school offers, which were not available in this data. The school environment is a regular public school, not a magnet or charter, and the community offers moderate housing costs and a stable employment base.
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