The top reported proficiency rate is 0% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Howells Senior High School
Howells Senior High School is the public secondary school serving grades seven through twelve in the small, rural village of Howells in northeastern Nebraska’s Colfax County. It is part of the Howells-Dodge Consolidated Schools district. The village itself has a compact downtown with retail and civic functions, and the local economy blends crop production, livestock feeding, and several manufacturing firms such as Howells Soya and Howells Fab. Population growth has been slow but steady. Housing values in the area are below the state median, and the market is relatively affordable compared with national benchmarks, a consideration for families looking to buy.
The school’s enrollment is small. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Racially, the student body is predominantly white, with a notable Hispanic minority and a very small number of Black students. Data on the share of students receiving special education services or classified as English learners was not provided.
Academically, the picture is incomplete and warrants careful attention from prospective families. State assessment results are available only for grades seven and eight in math, English language arts, and science. For the most recent testing year, these results show zero percent of tested students meeting proficiency standards across all three subjects. That is a striking figure. However, the same dataset also contains a multi-year trend that reports a prior English language arts proficiency rate that was substantially higher, before dropping to the current zero figure. This discrepancy suggests either a change in the assessment, a data reporting issue, or an anomalous year. A parent should ask the school directly for a clear explanation of these results and for more recent or complete academic data, particularly for high school grades where Nebraska uses a different assessment system. The school’s overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile when compared with other districts in Colfax County, but that index is based solely on the middle-grade results that appear problematic.
Because the school serves grades seven through twelve, a parent would also want to know about high school outcomes such as graduation rates, college enrollment, and career preparation. Those figures were not available in the data. Some schools in rural settings offer dual-credit or career and technical education pathways, but no program information was provided here, so families should seek that directly from the district.
The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. It is housed in the village of Howells, which has limited walkability and street life typical of a Plains village, with parks and a public library but no public transit. The district’s recent history includes no parent-relevant changes surfaced in available records, so the academic and operational landscape appears stable.
For a family considering this school, the central question is the academic record. The reported zero proficiency in tested middle grades is a red flag, yet the inconsistency with prior data means it cannot be taken at face value without further inquiry. The small, rural setting and the very small enrollment may appeal to families seeking a close-knit environment, but the lack of transparency in high school outcomes means a parent will need to invest time in direct conversations with the principal and district office to get a full picture. The community is affordable and slowly growing, and the manufacturing base provides local employment, but the academic pathway for students beyond middle school is not clearly documented in the available evidence.
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