The top reported proficiency rate is 0% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Centennial Jr-sr High School
Centennial Jr-Sr High School serves Utica, a small incorporated village in Seward County, Nebraska, within the Lincoln metropolitan statistical area. The school is the secondary arm of Centennial Public Schools, the local K-12 district, and it serves only grades nine through twelve. With a total enrollment that places it among the smaller high schools in the area, the student body is almost entirely white, with a small number of Black and Hispanic students. More than a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a share worth noting for families considering the economic diversity of the peer environment.
Utica itself is a largely residential small town. The housing stock is predominantly owner-occupied, and home values here sit below the state median, though they have risen at a rate well above the national average recently. The population has seen a slow, steady decline in recent census counts, and projections point toward near-flat growth over the next several years. The village has a modest municipal center but no described downtown district. The school campus’s relationship to the village core was not detailed in available records. No major employers were identified in search results, and no recent district-level changes such as bond measures, curriculum overhauls, or property tax shifts were found that would signal a shift in direction for the school.
On state assessments, Centennial Jr-Sr High School’s results are limited and require careful reading. The school reported proficiency rates for seventh and eighth graders in math, English language arts, and science, but the data shows a proficiency rate of zero percent across all tested subjects and grade levels for the most recent school year. A multi-year trend for English language arts shows a proficiency rate above the zero mark for an earlier point in the same year, but the pattern is inconsistent and the change was not computed as clean. When placed relative to other districts in Seward County, the school’s overall proficiency index sits in the bottom quartile. A parent looking at these numbers will want to ask the school directly about current approaches to instruction and support, especially given that the tested grades are below the high school level and may not reflect the experience of students in ninth through twelfth grade.
No graduation rate was available in the data, so it is not possible to assess how many students finish on time. Information on chronic absenteeism, Advanced Placement or dual-credit offerings, career and technical education pathways, staffing ratios, and discipline rates were also absent. The school’s designation as a regular public school means it is not an alternative or special-purpose program, but the gaps in these common indicators leave a parent with limited evidence to judge the academic environment beyond the state test results.
For a family considering this school, the central takeaway is that the available data is unusually thin for a regular high school. The state testing picture is concerning on its face, but the tests cover only middle-school grades, not high school, so the direct relevance to the high school experience is unclear. The absence of a graduation rate, program offerings, and other standard measures means a family would need to gather information directly from the school about course pathways, college and career preparation, and student outcomes. The community is small, slowly shrinking, and affordable relative to the state. The school is the only high school in the district, so for families living in the attendance area, this is the local option. Whether it provides the academic rigor, breadth of opportunity, and support a student needs is a question the available records leave largely unanswered.
See more original research from School Decision →