Norris Intermediate School, Firth NE

Original Research by School Decision on Norris Intermediate School

Norris Intermediate School serves grades three through five as part of the Norris School District 160, a consolidated public system whose campus sits a short distance north of the village of Firth in southern Lancaster County. The school occupies a separate building on a shared campus that also houses the district’s elementary, middle, and high schools. Firth itself is a small agricultural village, the kind of place where families move specifically for the school district and for easy access to Lincoln, the nearest metro area. The village has a park, a general store, a community center, and a handful of local employers including a farmers’ cooperative and a care facility, but most residents commute to work elsewhere. Housing values in the area run above state and national averages, reflecting the desirability of the Norris district and its proximity to Lincoln.

Academically, Norris Intermediate posts a mixed picture that families will want to examine by subject. In science, the fifth-grade results are a clear strength, with a large majority of students meeting the state proficiency standard. Math and English language arts results are more moderate, with a majority of students scoring proficient in each tested grade, but the share falls short of a two-thirds mark in several cases. When compared against other districts in Lancaster County, the school’s overall proficiency index sits below the midpoint, in the bottom quarter of the county. Multi-year trend data is available only for the most recent testing year, so it is not possible to see whether performance has been improving or declining over time. A parent considering the school may want to ask the principal about specific instructional strategies in math and reading.

The student body is large for an intermediate school: enrollment is substantial, and the school is fairly homogeneous. The overwhelming majority of students are white, with a small Hispanic population and very small numbers of other racial and ethnic groups. About one in nine students qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a low share relative to many public schools and consistent with the area’s above-average housing costs. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available; families with children who need those supports should inquire directly with the school about program availability.

Because Norris Intermediate ends at fifth grade, there is no graduation rate to report, and attendance or discipline data was also absent from the available records. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and no Title I designation was given. No information was found in public sources about recent district-level changes such as bond measures, curriculum updates, or tax levy adjustments, so this narrative cannot address those topics.

For a family deciding whether this school fits, the picture is one of a stable, largely middle-income community where the intermediate school delivers solid science instruction and more mixed results in literacy and math relative to the rest of the county. The community is rural but well-connected to Lincoln, and housing is a significant investment. The school environment is culturally homogeneous, which may matter for some families. Those concerned about academic performance should probe further into the literacy and math programs, while the science program stands out as an evident strength.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 366%

School 66% · District 67% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 66 pts above state median · ▲ 23 pts above county median

Grade 465%

School 65% · District 74% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▲ 65 pts above state median · ▲ 65 pts above county median

Grade 557%

School 57% · District 79% · ▼ 22 pts below district

▲ 57 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 360%

School 60% · District 69% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▲ 60 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 463%

School 63% · District 67% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 559%

School 59% · District 69% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▲ 59 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Science

Grade 588%

School 88% · District 94% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▲ 88 pts above state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

This schoolNORRIS SCHOOL DIST 160, 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 5Lower-income71%Higher-income79%8 pp gap