The top reported proficiency rate is 46% in Science. The lowest is 37% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Harvard High School
Harvard High School serves grades nine through twelve in the small, rural town of Harvard, Nebraska, and is part of the Harvard Public Schools district. The town itself is a compact community, covering less than a square mile, with a population that has seen a modest decline over recent decades. Civic life centers on Clay Avenue, where city offices and the police department are located. The local economy is anchored by health care, educational services, and manufacturing, though many residents commute to the broader Hastings area for work. Housing values are below the national median, and the homeownership rate is high, reflecting a stable but slowly shrinking residential base.
The student body is small, which is typical for a rural high school in this part of the state. White students make up the majority, with a substantial Hispanic presence, and no other racial or ethnic groups are represented in the data. Information on economic disadvantage, special education, and English learner status was not available, so a family considering the school may want to ask the district directly about the range of student support services available.
State testing results come from the 2016-17 school year, which is now several years old, and they cover only grades seven and eight for math and English language arts, plus eighth-grade science. Because the school serves high school grades, these results reflect the performance of students who were in the building before they entered ninth grade, not current high schoolers. In math, about two-fifths of seventh graders and roughly one-third of eighth graders scored at the proficient level or above. In English language arts, just under half of seventh graders and a bit more than one-third of eighth graders met that bar. Eighth-grade science results showed that fewer than half of students were proficient. When compared to other districts in Clay County, the school’s overall proficiency index lands in the bottom quartile. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, especially since the data is not current and does not directly measure the high school’s own instructional outcomes.
The school did not have a reported graduation rate, so a key measure of high school completion is absent from the available information. Similarly, data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, course access, and staffing were not provided. This means a full picture of the school environment and student experience is incomplete. Families may want to ask the district for current graduation rates, college-going rates, and any program offerings such as dual credit or career and technical education.
Because the district brief turned up no parent-relevant changes in recent years, there is no indication of major shifts in leadership, curriculum, or facilities to factor into a decision. The school appears to be operating as a regular public high school without charter or magnet status, and no Title I designation was noted.
This is a very small high school in a rural community that has been losing population slowly. The peer environment will be intimate, with fewer than a hundred students across all four grades. For a family that values a close-knit setting and is already part of this community, the school offers a straightforward local option. The testing data, while dated and limited, suggests that academic performance has room for improvement relative to nearby districts. Anyone relocating to the area or choosing between schools would benefit from speaking directly with the principal and current families to get a current sense of academic expectations and student life.
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