Boone Central Middle School, Albion NE

Original Research by School Decision on Boone Central Middle School

Boone Central Middle School is a regular public school in Albion, Nebraska, serving grades five through eight. With an enrollment that places it in the small category for a middle school, it draws students from the surrounding Boone County area. The student body is predominantly white, with a modest share of students from other racial and ethnic backgrounds. Just under half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker that indicates a substantial portion of families have lower household incomes. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the records provided.

Academically, the picture is uneven and includes an unusual pattern that a parent would want to explore with the school directly. In science, the school shows a clear strength: students in grade five and grade eight posted strong proficiency rates. English language arts performance varies, with roughly half of students scoring proficient in most grades, though one grade level reported a very low result. The most striking finding is in mathematics, where proficiency was reported at zero percent across every tested grade. This is an extreme outcome, and the available data does not explain whether it reflects a change in assessment, a small tested population, or a genuine instructional challenge. A parent considering this school should ask the administration what the math results mean and how the school is addressing student learning in that subject. The overall proficiency index for the school sits above the midpoint among Boone County’s two districts, but that broad measure is pulled up by strong science and mixed ELA while math pulls it down sharply.

Albion itself is a small, rural county‑seat town. The economy is built around health care, agriculture, and retail, and the community describes itself as family‑oriented and rooted in local heritage. Housing values are above the state median but below the national figure, and homeownership is common. The town is car‑dependent, with most residents driving alone to work on short commutes. Population has been stable with a slight long‑term decline, though recent estimates show a modest rebound. The district that operates this school, Boone Central Schools, did not have any recent parent‑relevant changes reported in the records.

For a family, Boone Central Middle School offers a small, rural setting where the student body is relatively uniform in background and community ties are strong. The academic data, however, raises serious questions about mathematics instruction and outcomes. A parent would be wise to speak with school leadership about the zero‑percent math proficiency figure, the support structures in place, and how the school plans to improve. The strong science results suggest that not all subjects are struggling, which makes the math situation stand out even more. Without additional context from the school itself, the test results alone give an incomplete and potentially misleading picture.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 50%

School 0% · district not reported

even with state median

Grade 60%

School 0% · District 87% · ▼ 87 pts below district

even with state median

Grade 70%

School 0% · district not reported

even with state median

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 81% · ▼ 81 pts below district

even with state median

English language arts

Grade 548%

School 48% · district not reported

▲ 48 pts above state median

Grade 653%

School 53% · District 68% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▲ 46 pts above state median

Grade 70%

School 0% · District 82% · ▼ 82 pts below district

even with state median

Grade 843%

School 43% · District 81% · ▼ 38 pts below district

▲ 43 pts above state median

Science

Grade 578%

School 78% · district not reported

▲ 78 pts above state median

Grade 874%

School 74% · District 84% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▲ 74 pts above state median

This schoolBOONE CENTRAL 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 7Lower-income69%Higher-income77%9 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income67%Higher-income69%2 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income65%Higher-income87%22 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income61%Higher-income78%17 pp gap