The top reported proficiency rate is 36% in Math. The lowest is 31% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Westside Elementary School
Westside Elementary School serves students from pre-kindergarten through fourth grade as part of Norfolk Public Schools in northeast Nebraska. It is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. The school sits in a community that functions as the economic center for a six-county region, blending manufacturing, retail, agriculture, healthcare, and education. Norfolk is a highway-oriented micropolitan city where the built environment favors auto travel over walking, though a traditional downtown core exists. Major employers include Faith Regional Health Services, Nucor, and Norfolk Public Schools itself. The city’s population makes it the seventh-largest in Nebraska, and it has grown historically along transportation corridors.
The student body is mixed in its composition. About half of the students are white, and a substantial share are Hispanic, with smaller numbers of students who are two or more races, Black, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Asian. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic circumstances of many families in the attendance zone. The enrollment is modest for an elementary school serving these grades, and students are spread across kindergarten through fourth grade, with a pre-kindergarten program also available.
**Academic performance presents a mixed picture.** In the most recent state assessments, third-grade math results were strong, with a clear majority of students meeting the proficiency standard. Third-grade English language arts, however, showed a different outcome, with no students recorded as proficient. In fourth grade, math proficiency was also low, while fourth-grade English language arts saw a majority of students reach proficiency. Looking at multi-year trends, performance has varied. In English language arts, the overall proficiency rate across tested grades has moved within a range that shows some variability. In math, the overall rate has shifted downward over the same period. Because the school serves only early elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to report, and data on chronic absenteeism and staffing was not available for this profile.
**Compared to other districts in Madison County, Westside’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades falls in the bottom quartile.** This comparison uses a proficiency index that averages the rates from the tested subjects and grades. A parent may want to ask the school for more context about what instruction and support look like in the subjects and grades where scores are lower.
**The school’s setting within Norfolk Public Schools means it feeds into a junior high and high school later, but no district-level changes affecting parents were identified in publicly available materials.** The search for recent district shifts, such as boundary adjustments, program changes, or policy updates, did not yield specific results, so that topic is left unaddressed rather than guessed at.
For a family considering this school, the high share of students from low-income households indicates that the school likely receives Title I funding and may offer additional supports such as free breakfast and lunch, though Title I status was not explicitly confirmed in the data. The school’s modest enrollment and early-grade focus mean class sizes are probably manageable, but no staffing ratios were provided. The local housing market is generally affordable relative to national benchmarks, with home values and rents that are moderate for the region, making Norfolk a feasible place for many families to live while sending their child to this neighborhood elementary school. The absence of program offerings, such as gifted education or specialized magnet themes, means that for families seeking a particular pedagogical approach or enrichment focus, there is little public information to go on, and a direct inquiry to the school would be the next step.
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