Northeast Elementary School, Kearney NE

Original Research by School Decision on Northeast Elementary School

Northeast Elementary School is a regular public school in Kearney, serving students from preschool through fifth grade. It is one of several elementary schools in the Kearney Public Schools district. Located on the north side of the city, the school sits in a neighborhood that is part of a broader community shaped by the presence of the University of Nebraska at Kearney, a regional health care and manufacturing economy, and its position as the county seat and an Interstate 80 hub. The setting is primarily auto-oriented, though downtown Kearney offers some walkable civic and cultural amenities.

The student body is predominantly white, with a notable Hispanic share and smaller numbers of Black, Asian, and multiracial students. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that the school serves a population with a range of economic backgrounds. Information on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the data provided. The school enrolls a moderate number of children for an elementary school in this grade band.

State testing data is available for the 2024–25 school year, and the results present a significant soft spot. Proficiency rates in math were very low across grades three, four, and five. In English language arts, only fifth-grade results were reported, and they were also low. Science proficiency in fifth grade was higher, though still below a level many parents would hope to see. Multi-year trends show that proficiency in all three subjects has declined in recent years, so those numbers have moved in the wrong direction. The school’s overall academic standing, when measured across all tested subjects and grades, placed it in the bottom quartile among districts in Buffalo County. A parent looking at these results would likely want to investigate further with the school or district to understand what supports are in place and what progress is being made.

Because the school serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to consider, and chronic absenteeism data was not reported. Discipline, staffing, and course access details were also absent from the data, so those areas cannot be addressed here. The lack of information on students with disabilities and English learners is another gap a parent may want to follow up on.

The housing context in Kearney shows home values roughly on par with the state average and a modest year-over-year increase. That stability, along with the city’s steady population growth and its role as a regional commercial and educational center, suggests the community is not in a period of rapid upheaval. Families considering the area can expect a midsized city with a university presence, a range of employers, and basic civic infrastructure.

In short, Northeast Elementary serves a diverse-by-income student body in a stable, college-town setting, but its academic performance on state assessments is a clear area of concern that warrants attention.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 30%

School 0% · District 73% · ▼ 73 pts below district

even with state median · even with county median

Grade 40%

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

even with state median · even with county median

Grade 50%

School 0% · District 77% · ▼ 77 pts below district

even with state median · even with county median

English language arts

Grade 30%

School 0% · District 66% · ▼ 66 pts below district

even with state median · even with county median

Grade 40%

School 0% · District 70% · ▼ 70 pts below district

▼ 40 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

Grade 549%

School 49% · District 71% · ▼ 21 pts below district

▲ 49 pts above state median · ▲ 31 pts above county median

Science

Grade 574%

School 74% · District 91% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▲ 74 pts above state median · ▲ 42 pts above county median

This schoolKEARNEY PUBLIC 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

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income59%Higher-income84%26 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income41%Higher-income82%41 pp gap