The top reported proficiency rate is 12% in English language arts. The lowest is 0% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Hartley Elementary School
Hartley Elementary School is a regular public school serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in the Lincoln Public Schools district. It sits within a mixed residential and commercial part of Lincoln, a city whose economy is driven by state government, healthcare, higher education, and a growing technology sector. The school is one of many elementaries in a district that recently completed a major building program, opening two new high schools and a new elementary school after passing a large bond issue, which reshaped attendance boundaries across the city.
The student body at Hartley is diverse. White students make up the largest single group, but no racial or ethnic group forms a majority. Hispanic students, Black students, students who identify as two or more races, Asian students, and American Indian or Alaska Native students are all represented in the enrollment, which is moderate in size for an elementary school. The school serves grades PK through 5, with enrollment distributed across the grade levels in a fairly typical pattern. Data on the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, as well as counts of students with disabilities and English learners, were not available in the data provided.
State assessment results for the school show a pattern that families will want to examine closely. For the most recent testing year, proficiency rates in both math and reading were reported as zero for several grade levels. Specifically, third-grade and fifth-grade reading, all three tested grade levels in math, and fifth-grade science each showed a zero percent proficiency rate. Fourth-grade reading was the only tested grade and subject where a non-zero result appeared, with a proficiency rate that falls well below a majority of students meeting the bar. Across the school as a whole, when combining all tested grades and subjects, the overall proficiency index places Hartley in the bottom quartile relative to other elementary schools within districts in Lancaster County. A multi-year trend for the school is available, but because the most recent year shows a sharp drop from prior results, a parent may want to ask the school directly about what happened in that testing cycle, whether there were changes in the student population tested, or whether classroom instruction has shifted.
Because Hartley is an elementary-only school, it has no high school graduation rate to report, and no data on chronic absenteeism was available in the data provided. Information on course access, staffing ratios, and discipline was also not present.
The school is located in a neighborhood of Lincoln where housing values are below both the state and national averages, and monthly rents are similarly more affordable. This positions Hartley as a school within reach for families looking for lower-cost entry points into the Lincoln housing market. The district brief notes that Lincoln Public Schools in 2023 began implementing a science-of-reading approach to early literacy instruction across all elementary schools, aligning with a state requirement. This means that Hartley is part of a district-wide shift in how reading is taught in the early grades, which may be relevant for families of young children considering the school.
In sum, Hartley Elementary serves a diverse student body in an affordable part of a stable, growing state capital city. The academic picture, based on the most recent state testing results, shows a school where proficiency rates are very low across most tested grades and subjects, and where the overall standing among its county peers is in the bottom range. A family considering this school will want to talk with the principal and teachers about how instruction is organized, how student progress is assessed, and what supports are in place for students who are not yet meeting grade-level benchmarks.
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