The top reported proficiency rate is 86% in Science. The lowest is 32% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Fort Calhoun Elementary School
Fort Calhoun Elementary School serves students from preschool through sixth grade in a small, historically-rooted Nebraska town roughly north of Omaha. The school is part of the Fort Calhoun Community Schools district, a single-district system that covers the town and surrounding area. The setting is primarily residential, with a compact downtown along a state highway and a quiet, small-town texture. Housing values are well above national benchmarks, and the community is notably affluent, with very few students qualifying for free or reduced-price meals compared to many Nebraska schools. That economic profile shapes the peer environment: the student body is overwhelmingly white, with a small share of Hispanic and multiracial students. Enrollment sits in the low hundreds for an elementary school of this grade span.
Academically, the school shows an uneven picture. In the most recent state testing, proficiency rates varied sharply by grade and subject. Some grades posted solid results in math and reading, while others recorded very low proficiency, including grade levels where no students reached the proficient threshold. The science results for fifth grade were a strong point, with a high share of students meeting the state standard. Overall, when all tested grades and subjects are combined into a single index, the school’s performance places it in the bottom quarter relative to districts in Washington County. That is a narrow comparison set of only three districts, so the gap is meaningful within that local context. The multi-year trend data shows that overall proficiency rates in both math and English language arts have settled in a moderate range, not far from half of students meeting proficiency. Parents looking at this school will want to ask about the inconsistency, particularly the grades with very low proficiency, to understand whether those results reflect small group sizes, cohort effects, or instructional patterns.
The school’s grade band means there is no graduation rate to report, and data on chronic absenteeism and special education or English learner populations was not available. That makes it harder to assess student support structures from the numbers alone. The community context provides some stability: Fort Calhoun has seen steady population growth over decades, and its residents generally have high incomes and a strong homeownership rate. The town is car-dependent, with limited pedestrian street life, but its small geographic footprint means the school and civic functions are close together. Many families likely commute to Omaha for work, given the short drive south.
For a family considering this school, the takeaway is that Fort Calhoun Elementary sits in an affluent, stable small-town environment with a narrow demographic range. The academic results are mixed, with clear strengths in science and some inconsistency in math and reading across grades. The school’s relative performance within its county is lower than its neighbors, which a parent may want to explore further with the school or district office. No recent district-level changes were publicly reported, so the school appears to be operating in a steady institutional context. This is a school that fits families who value a small, close-knit community setting and are prepared to engage directly with teachers and administrators to understand the variation in student outcomes.
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