Harry Andersen Middle School, Omaha NE

Original Research by School Decision on Harry Andersen Middle School

Harry Andersen Middle School serves students in sixth through eighth grade as a regular public school within the Millard Public Schools district in Omaha, Nebraska. The school is located in the southwestern part of the city, a largely residential area with a mix of single-family homes and suburban development. Omaha itself is a major economic hub, home to several Fortune 500 company headquarters, a strong corporate base, and a metro area that has seen modest population growth in recent years. Housing values in the school’s zip code fall in a moderate range, and rents are similarly positioned relative to the broader market.

State testing results from the Nebraska Student-Centered Assessment System provide a picture of academic performance across the three middle school grades. In English language arts, roughly half of students met proficiency standards in each grade, with slight variation from year to year. Mathematics proficiency shows a noticeable decline across grades: a solid portion of sixth graders meet the bar, but by eighth grade the share drops to roughly a third. Science is tested only in eighth grade, and in that subject a strong majority of students are proficient. Taken together, the school’s overall proficiency across all subjects and grades places it in the bottom quartile when compared to other schools within Douglas County districts. No multi-year trend data was available to show whether these levels are improving or declining over time.

The student body is large, with several hundred students spread relatively evenly across the three grades. The racial and ethnic composition is predominantly white, with a notable Hispanic population and smaller shares of Asian, Black, and multiracial students. More than a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that a meaningful portion of families have lower household incomes. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not provided, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about the availability of special education services and language support. The school is neither a charter nor a magnet school; it operates as a regular public school within the Millard district. No information was available on student discipline rates, chronic absenteeism, staffing levels, or course offerings, so a family interested in those aspects of the school environment should seek that information from the school or district.

The Millard Public Schools district itself did not show any recent major changes or initiatives in publicly available records, so the current academic and operational profile appears stable. Omaha’s broader context—a large city with cultural amenities, a strong economy, and continued development—provides the setting, but the school’s immediate neighborhood is suburban in character, with a typical mix of strip malls, churches, and residential streets.

For a family evaluating this school, the main considerations are the middling to low state test scores, particularly in mathematics, and the lack of published data on several important aspects of the school experience. The science results are a relative bright spot, and the school is part of a well-established suburban district. A parent should ask about academic intervention programs, how the school supports students who are behind, and what enrichment opportunities exist, especially given that the school does not offer high school grades and thus future pathways will depend on the receiving high school.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 649%

School 49% · District 69% · ▼ 20 pts below district

▲ 49 pts above state median · ▲ 49 pts above county median

Grade 745%

School 45% · District 66% · ▼ 21 pts below district

▲ 45 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 837%

School 37% · District 70% · ▼ 33 pts below district

▲ 37 pts above state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 647%

School 47% · District 72% · ▼ 25 pts below district

▲ 41 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 751%

School 51% · District 71% · ▼ 21 pts below district

▲ 51 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 850%

School 50% · District 73% · ▼ 23 pts below district

▲ 50 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Science

Grade 869%

School 69% · District 84% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▲ 69 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

This schoolMILLARD PUBLIC SCHOOLS, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 6Lower-income51%Higher-income78%27 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income50%Higher-income79%29 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income43%Higher-income79%36 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income49%Higher-income77%29 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income42%Higher-income65%23 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income47%Higher-income78%32 pp gap