Walnut Middle School, Grand Island NE

Original Research by School Decision on Walnut Middle School

Walnut Middle School serves sixth through eighth grade as a regular public school in the Grand Island Public Schools district. It is one of the larger middle schools in the area by enrollment, drawing students from across Grand Island, a mid-sized regional hub in central Nebraska that blends agriculture, manufacturing, and healthcare as its economic base. The city is auto-dependent with a demand-responsive transit system, so families rely on private vehicles for school drop-off and pickup. Housing in the school's ZIP code area shows home values near the statewide benchmark and rents that have risen more sharply recently, though the estimated rent-to-income ratio remains moderate relative to national figures.

The student body is diverse. A substantial majority of students are Hispanic, with white students making up roughly a quarter of enrollment and smaller shares of Black, Asian, multiracial, and Native American students. A large share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places the school in a high-poverty context. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not reported in the available records, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about the size and shape of those support programs.

On state assessments, proficiency rates in both English language arts and math are low across all three grade levels. In English language arts, about a quarter of students met proficiency in sixth, seventh, and eighth grade. In math, sixth and seventh graders scored in a similar range, while the eighth-grade math proficiency rate was reported at a very low level. Science, tested only in eighth grade, showed a higher share of students meeting proficiency, though still below half. The school's overall proficiency index, which averages results across tested subjects and grades, sits in the bottom quartile among the four school districts in Hall County. Multi-year trend data available from the past five assessment cycles shows that proficiency rates in both English language arts and math have declined over that period, and science proficiency has also trended downward. A parent considering this school should look into the specific supports the school offers for students who are below grade level, and ask what steps the school is taking to reverse the academic trend.

Because Walnut Middle School serves only grades six through eight, there is no graduation rate to report. The school does not offer the advanced coursework or career pathways typical of high schools, so program offerings at this level are not comparable to what a parent might find at a high school.

The school's environment is that of a regular public middle school within a larger district. The district recently opened a new elementary school, which reflects ongoing attention to facility capacity. The broader Grand Island community offers civic anchors such as the Nebraska State Fairgrounds, a living history museum, and a water park, but the city's spread-out layout and lack of fixed-route transit mean that getting to school activities or after-school programs requires driving. For families weighing Walnut Middle School, the core question is whether the school's current academic performance and the district's support structures match a student's needs, particularly for a student who is already performing at or above grade level and may need enrichment, or for a student who will require targeted intervention to catch up.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 632%

School 32% · District 48% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▲ 32 pts above state median

Grade 733%

School 33% · District 45% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▲ 33 pts above state median

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 47% · ▼ 47 pts below district

even with state median

English language arts

Grade 628%

School 28% · District 43% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▲ 22 pts above state median

Grade 726%

School 26% · District 42% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▲ 26 pts above state median

Grade 827%

School 27% · District 51% · ▼ 24 pts below district

▲ 27 pts above state median

Science

Grade 844%

School 44% · District 64% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▲ 44 pts above state median

This schoolGRAND ISLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 6Lower-income33%Higher-income36%3 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income43%Higher-income58%15 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income43%Higher-income45%2 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income40%Higher-income46%6 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income40%Higher-income53%13 pp gap