The top reported proficiency rate is 26% in English language arts. The lowest is 0% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Washington Elementary School
Washington Elementary School serves students from prekindergarten through fourth grade, a regular public elementary school within the Norfolk Public Schools district. With an enrollment that is moderate for its grade band, the school draws its student body from the community of Norfolk, Nebraska.
Norfolk is the economic center for a six-county region in northeast Nebraska, blending manufacturing, retail, agriculture, healthcare, and education. It is the seventh-most populous city in the state and operates as a micropolitan hub. The built environment is typical of a mid-sized plains city, with a traditional downtown core but an overall auto-oriented layout. Major employers include Faith Regional Health Services, Nucor, and the school district itself. The Elkhorn River passes through the southern part of the city, and key civic anchors include Norfolk Regional Airport and Northeast Community College.
The student body at Washington Elementary is characterized by substantial diversity. Looking at the demographic profile, the largest group of students is Hispanic, representing nearly half of the enrollment. White students make up the next largest share, and the remainder is comprised of students identifying as two or more races, Black, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Asian. A very substantial majority of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly used indicator of household economic need. Data on students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and English learner status was not available in the data reviewed.
Academically, Washington Elementary’s state test results present a mixed picture that parents may want to explore further. For English language arts, a majority of third graders met the proficiency standard on the state assessment. However, results for the school’s fourth graders, as well as for math across both tested grade levels, showed no students reaching the proficiency bar. It is important to note that these are the reported figures from a single year, and the state data did not include information about whether the test itself or the cut scores had recently changed. When looking at a multi-year trend, the composite proficiency rate for English language arts across all tested students stood slightly higher than the figure for the most recent year, while the multi-year trend in math recently showed a steep drop to zero proficiency, consistent with the one-year picture for those grades. A broader academic index comparing schools within the district’s county placed Washington Elementary’s overall proficiency in the bottom quartile among the five elementary schools reporting data.
Because this is an elementary school serving only prekindergarten through fourth grade, there is no graduation rate to report, nor any data on chronic absenteeism from the civil rights collection. The absence of these metrics is inherent to the school’s grade configuration and does not reflect a concern.
Housing in the zip code serving the school has a typical price that has risen moderately over the past year. The estimated monthly cost of owning a home at these prices is somewhat higher than the median rent in the area, which is a consideration for families weighing homeownership versus renting. The broader economic context shows a modest national unemployment rate.
For families considering Washington Elementary, the school operates within a district with multiple elementary options. The most important factor is the academic picture: while many third graders show grade-level reading proficiency, the math results and the fourth-grade English results raise questions that a prospective parent should discuss directly with school staff to understand the instructional context, the grade-level curriculum, and any support programs in place. The school serves a high-need population, and the district did not report any recent major changes or initiatives in the data reviewed, so families should ask about current academic interventions and enrichment offerings.
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