The top reported proficiency rate is 0% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Crawford High School
Crawford High School is the sole secondary school for Crawford Public Schools, a small rural district in the Pine Ridge region of northwest Nebraska. The school serves seventh through twelfth grade and is a regular public school. Its enrollment is small for a seven-through-twelve building, reflecting the town’s modest size and ongoing population loss. The student body is overwhelmingly white, with a small number of students identifying as Hispanic, American Indian or Alaska Native, Black, or two or more races. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school in a lower-income economic context for a rural Nebraska public school.
The town of Crawford sits at the intersection of US Highway 20 and Nebraska Highways 2 and 71, in the Pine Ridge escarpment. Agriculture and ranching are the primary industries, giving the community a quiet, working-landscape character. The town has experienced steady population decline for decades, a pattern common across the Great Plains. Top employers include Dawes County government, a uranium operation, a nursing home, the school district itself, BNSF Railway, and a livestock market. Housing values in the area are well below the national median, and the local market has seen a modest year-over-year drop. For a parent moving into the area, the cost of homeownership is low by national standards, and the rental market likely follows suit, though no rental data was available.
On state assessments, the school’s proficiency rates for seventh and eighth grade in math, English language arts, and science were reported at zero percent. This is a very small number of test-takers—the seventh and eighth grade classes combined total about twenty students—so any single student’s score heavily influences the rate. A parent would want to discuss with the school how individual student performance compares to state expectations, and whether the school has done any analysis of its own longitudinal data. No assessment results were available for high school grades, and no graduation rate was reported in the data provided. The school may participate in Nebraska’s accountability system, but no cohort-based outcomes were present in the source material. Similarly, information on course access, advanced coursework, career and technical education pathways, dual credit, and special education services was not included, so a parent should ask the district directly about program availability and support services.
Crawford High School’s context is that of a very small, rural school in a declining community. The peer environment is small—total enrollment across grades seven through twelve is modest, so students will know most of their classmates. The school is the only public secondary option in the district, and the nearest alternatives likely require a drive to a larger town, though drive times were not provided. For families who value a close-knit setting and are comfortable with a school where every student is known by name, Crawford High fits that profile. For families concerned about academic offerings, breadth of programming, or post-secondary preparation data, the absence of information in the public record means those are questions to take directly to the school. The district itself did not report any recent bond initiatives, curriculum changes, or other parent-relevant developments, consistent with a small rural system operating without major public shifts.
Overall, Crawford High School is a straightforward option for a student who lives in the area and wants a small, rural public school education. The academic outcomes on the state assessments for the middle grades are a clear soft spot, one a parent should explore in person. The school’s size and community setting are characteristics that will appeal to some families and limit options for others.
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