The top reported proficiency rate is 52% in Science. The lowest is 0% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on West Lincoln Elementary School
West Lincoln Elementary is a regular public school in Lincoln, Nebraska, serving students in prekindergarten through fifth grade within the Lincoln Public Schools district. The school community sits on the city's west side, part of a state capital that functions as the economic and cultural anchor for the wider metropolitan area, with major employers including state government, the university, and the school district itself.
The student body has a distinctly diverse makeup, drawing from a broad mix of racial and ethnic backgrounds. A large portion of the enrollment is identified as Hispanic, with another substantial portion of students identifying as white. Smaller but still meaningful shares of students identify as Black, as having two or more races, as Asian, or as American Indian or Alaska Native. The school also serves a large number of students, a count that puts it at a size typical for a Lincoln elementary building. Data on the share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, as well as the share of students receiving special education services or classified as English learners, was not available for this profile.
The academic picture from state assessments presents a mixed view that parents will want to understand carefully. Performance on the English language arts portion of the Nebraska Student-Centered Assessment System varied notably by grade level. In one tested grade, roughly half of students met the proficiency benchmark. The share was markedly lower in another grade, and in the highest elementary grade, no students reached proficiency. In the math assessment, proficiency rates were very low across all three tested grade levels, and in two of those grades, no students scored as proficient. The science assessment, taken in the school's top grade, showed a rate above half of students achieving proficiency. Across all tested subjects and grades combined, the school's overall proficiency index ranked in the bottom quartile among elementary schools in Lancaster County, a comparison set that includes other schools within Lincoln Public Schools and neighboring districts. The district itself, Lincoln Public Schools, has been undertaking a district-wide shift toward a science-of-reading approach for early literacy instruction, a change that began in recent years. Whether that shift will affect outcomes at a school like West Lincoln is information a parent may wish to follow up on.
Housing in the immediate area around the school is priced near the typical home value for the state, with home values in the area having risen only modestly in the past year. Rents are also near the state benchmark, and the area is generally not considered severely unaffordable compared with national averages, though monthly housing costs still require a significant portion of household income.
The school provides a full prekindergarten through grade five span, so a child can attend here for the entirety of their elementary career before moving to a Lincoln middle school. No state testing data was available for kindergarten through second grade, which is expected because those grades are not typically tested in Nebraska. For its upper elementary grades, the testing data shows clear areas of challenge, particularly in math. The school's position in the bottom quartile of its county comparison is a straightforward signal that academic performance lags behind many peer schools. A family considering this school should weigh the very low proficiency rates, particularly in math, against the benefit of a neighborhood school in a growing, diverse city with a stable housing market.
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