The top reported proficiency rate is 63% in Science. The lowest is 16% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Brownell Elementary School
Brownell Elementary School serves roughly the early elementary years in east Lincoln, part of the Lincoln Public Schools district, the city’s single public school system. It draws students from a residential pocket of the city, near both commercial corridors and older neighborhoods.
The student body is predominantly white, with notable shares of students who are Hispanic and those identifying as two or more races. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a sign that the school serves a population with lower household incomes than the citywide average. The school’s enrollment is moderate for an elementary building, with a relatively even spread across kindergarten through grade five.
State assessment results from a recent year show a mixed picture. In English language arts, proficiency was reported for grade three, grade four, and grade five, but with a pattern where the earlier grades were stronger and the later grade was not reported. In math, results were reported for grades three, four, and five, with proficiency strongest in grade five. In science, which is only tested in grade five, the share of students meeting the proficiency bar was higher than in either English or math for that grade. The data available does not include results for every tested grade and subject, which makes it hard to draw a full portrait of schoolwide performance. Compared to other schools in Lancaster County, Brownell’s overall proficiency index placed it in the bottom quarter among the dozen districts in the county. That position suggests the school’s academic attainment, as measured by these state tests, trails many others in the same geographic area. A parent may want to ask the school directly about the grade-level patterns and what supports are in place.
The school’s district, Lincoln Public Schools, has been through substantial change in recent years. A major bond issue funded construction of two new high schools and an elementary school, reshuffling attendance boundaries to relieve overcrowding. That means that Brownell’s own attendance zone may have shifted, and the feeder pattern into middle and high school may look different than it did a few years ago. The district has also adopted a science-of-reading approach to early literacy instruction district-wide, so the way reading is taught at Brownell reflects that newer, evidence-based method. These are district-level shifts that directly affect what happens in the classroom at this school.
Lincoln itself is a stable, midsized city with a mix of government, university, healthcare, and manufacturing employment. It is growing steadily, and the housing market reflects that. Home values in Brownell’s ZIP code were near the statewide benchmark, a moderate cost for a city of this size. Rents are comparable, with the typical monthly rent not far from the estimated mortgage payment on a median-priced home. For a family considering moving into this attendance area, affordability is reasonable by national standards, though incomes in the school’s immediate population are below the city median.
The data does not include information on school programs, special education rates, English learner populations, discipline, or teacher staffing. Those are gaps a prospective parent would want to fill by talking to the school directly. No graduation rate is reported because the school ends at fifth grade. Civil rights data was not available. Brownell is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and operates as part of a large, well-established district that has been actively changing its facilities and instructional approaches. For a family seeking a neighborhood elementary school in a growing city, this is a straightforward option, but the test-score picture and the economic profile of the student body are factors worth investigating further.
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