The top reported proficiency rate is 0% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Loomis Elementary School
Loomis Elementary School serves students from prekindergarten through sixth grade in the small agricultural village of Loomis, Nebraska, located in Phelps County. It is a regular public school within the Loomis Public Schools district. The school is small, with an enrollment that reflects the size of the community it serves. The student body is predominantly white, with a small share of students identifying as Hispanic or as two or more races. Just over four in ten students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is a marker of economic need in the school population. The state does not provide data on the share of students with individualized education programs or those classified as English learners, so a parent seeking that information would need to contact the school directly.
On state assessments in the 2024-25 school year, Loomis Elementary reported proficiency rates of zero percent in math, English language arts, and science across the tested grades of three through six. This is a striking result. The school’s own multi-year trend data shows that in earlier years, proficiency rates were substantially higher. For English language arts, the trend line over the past five years began with a rate that was solidly above two-thirds. For math, the early years in the same period showed proficiency well above nine-tenths. The science trend, which covers four years, was also zero in the earliest year available. These are the school’s reported figures, and the sudden drop to zero across all subjects and grades marks a dramatic change from the school’s own recent history. A parent would want to ask the school directly about what drove these results and what steps are being taken. Compared to other districts in Phelps County, the school’s overall proficiency index lands in the bottom quartile of the four-district comparison set, though that set is small and the comparison is based on the mean of reported rates across tested subjects and grades.
The school offers no high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to consider.
Loomis itself is a very small village with a population that has been essentially flat to slightly declining in recent years. The local economy is anchored by agriculture, with a major Agri Co-op fertilizer plant and a notable bridal business that draws customers from across the state. The village covers a tiny land area, making most of it walkable in a practical sense, though daily street life is minimal. A volunteer-built community center, a youth center in a downtown storefront, and a volunteer fire and rescue department serve as civic anchors. The school is a significant civic feature: a recent addition brought a new media library, shop, wrestling room, weight room, and additional classrooms. The district grew its enrollment through open-option enrollment, meaning some students from outside the district boundaries attend here, though the village itself has not experienced growth pressure. Housing values in the zip code are lower than the state median, and owner-occupancy is common.
The district brief turned up no reports of recent curriculum changes, referenda, or administrative shifts that would affect a parent’s decision. The school’s academic story is the central fact here: after years of strong proficiency results, the 2024-25 data shows a flat zero across the board. This is a school with a small student body in a stable, close-knit agricultural village, where a parent’s most urgent conversation would be with the principal about what happened and what is happening now.
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