The top reported proficiency rate is 50% in Science. The lowest is 0% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Litchfield High School
Litchfield High School serves grades seven through twelve in the small, rural village of Litchfield, Nebraska, and is the only secondary school in the Litchfield Public Schools district. The school sits on Main Street in the village center, a compact civic core that also includes the village hall and a handful of local businesses. Agribusiness anchors the local economy, but many residents commute to larger communities such as Broken Bow, Kearney, or Grand Island for work, all within about an hour’s drive. Litchfield’s population has been declining steadily over recent decades, and the village has a quiet, low-traffic character typical of a remote rural setting.
Enrollment at the high school is very small, with a student body that is almost entirely white. About half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The grade-level counts are small enough that each cohort is a handful of students, which means class sizes are very small and the school environment is likely one where every student is known by name. Data on students with disabilities and English learners were not available in the source material, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about the availability of specialized supports.
State assessment results are available for recent testing, but the picture is limited. For seventh grade, math and reading proficiency rates were suppressed in the source data, likely due to very small group sizes that prevent public reporting. For eighth grade, the data that was reported shows a low proficiency rate in math and a low rate in reading. Eighth-grade science proficiency was reported at a moderate rate. Because the school’s enrollment is so small, year-to-year results can swing dramatically with the performance of just one or two students, and the limited number of tested students means the data offers a thin basis for broad conclusions. A family should consider visiting the school and asking about individual student progress and how the school measures academic growth beyond state tests.
The school’s overall proficiency index, a composite of all tested subjects and grades, sits in the bottom quartile when compared to other districts in Sherman County. There are only two districts in the county, so this comparison is a narrow one and should be read with that context. The source data did not include a graduation rate, a chronic absenteeism rate, or information on disciplinary actions, course access, or staffing ratios, so those dimensions of the school experience are not possible to assess here.
No recent district-level changes or initiatives were found in public sources. The village’s population decline and the school’s small enrollment suggest a stable but gradually shrinking community. For a family looking for a very small school in a rural, agricultural setting where a child can receive a high degree of individual attention and be part of a tight-knit school community, Litchfield High School fits that profile. For a family concerned about academic performance as measured by state tests, the reported results are low, though the small cohort size makes those figures less reliable than they would be in a larger school. A parent would be well served by talking directly with the principal and teachers to understand the academic program, the range of course offerings in grades eleven and twelve, and how the school supports students who may need extra help.
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