The top reported proficiency rate is 67% in Science. The lowest is 19% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Fredstrom Elementary School
Fredstrom Elementary School serves students from prekindergarten through fifth grade in the Lincoln Public Schools district, the largest school system in the state. It is a regular neighborhood public school, not a charter or magnet school, and it draws its attendance from the north side of the city.
The school’s academic profile shows a varied picture through the 2024-25 school year. In fourth grade, a majority of students met the state proficiency standard in both math and English language arts, with science results in fifth grade also showing a strong majority proficient. However, performance was notably lower in third-grade English language arts, where fewer than half of students reached proficiency, and in fifth-grade math, where no students recorded a proficient score. The overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades places Fredstrom in the bottom quartile among schools in Lancaster County. A parent reviewing growth patterns might observe that across all grades the elementary-level English language arts and math proficiency rates, when averaged together, came in lower than what the school showed in an earlier period, and science proficiency also declined compared to a prior year, but these are early-grade test results that can shift significantly from one cohort to the next, so they warrant attention rather than a fixed judgment.
Fredstrom’s student body is diverse in its composition. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The largest demographic group is white students, with the remainder coming from a mix of Black, Hispanic, Asian, and multiracial backgrounds. Data on the share of students receiving special education services or classified as English learners was not available in the record, so a family with a child who has an individualized education program or is learning English would want to ask the school directly about those supports.
The school sits within Lincoln, the state capital and the economic anchor of its metropolitan area. The city’s economy is steady, with major employers including the state government, the university, the public school district, and the healthcare and manufacturing sectors. Housing values and rents in the zip code around Fredstrom are slightly above the state average, and the mortgage-to-rent math suggests owning a home is somewhat more expensive than renting in this area, which is consistent with a housing market that has seen moderate appreciation.
The district itself has been through a period of major change. Lincoln Public Schools passed a large bond issue a few years ago, the largest in its history, which funded the construction of two new high schools and a new elementary school, along with major renovations to existing buildings. Those additions reshaped attendance boundaries and eased overcrowding across the district, and a family considering Fredstrom will want to confirm the current feeder pattern for middle and high school, because the district’s geography shifted with the new schools. The district also adopted a science-of-reading approach to early literacy instruction across all elementary schools starting a couple of years ago, so the teaching of reading at Fredstrom is part of that district-wide shift toward evidence-based reading instruction.
Fredstrom is a mid-sized elementary school in a growing city, part of a large district that is investing heavily in its facilities and instructional approach. Families considering the school will find a regular public school with a significant share of students from economically diverse backgrounds, and academic results that are strongest for fourth graders in both reading and math and for fifth graders in science, but with notable soft spots in the earliest tested grade and in upper-grade math. Given the school’s position relative to others in the county, a parent may want to ask the principal about the fifth-grade math results and how the school addresses early reading gaps in third grade.
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