The top reported proficiency rate is 88% in Science. The lowest is 26% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Columbian Elementary School
Columbian Elementary School is a regular public school in Omaha, Nebraska, serving students in prekindergarten through fifth grade. It is part of the Omaha Public Schools district, which launched a major district-wide literacy initiative in 2024 called “Moonshot,” with the goal of having all students reading on grade level by 2030. That initiative incorporates the Science of Reading and a structured literacy curriculum, representing a sustained, multi-year shift in how reading is taught across all elementary grades in the district. Families considering Columbian should know that the school is operating within this broader pedagogical change, which is central to the district’s 2026-30 strategic plan.
The school has a modest enrollment, and its student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Hispanic, Black, Asian, and multiracial students. Data on the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, as well as the number of students with individualized education programs or designated as English learners, was not available; a parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand the full picture of student support needs.
On state assessments, Columbian’s performance showed a pattern where results become stronger as students move through the grades. In third grade, reading proficiency was lower, but by fourth grade it rose to a solid level, and by fifth grade it was high. Fifth-grade math proficiency was also strong, and fifth-grade science proficiency was high. However, third-grade math proficiency and fourth-grade math proficiency were both very low. This creates an uneven profile: the school appears to have a particular challenge in early elementary mathematics, with a recovery in fifth grade. A parent may want to ask the school about its math instruction and supports in the primary grades, especially given the inconsistency. The school’s overall proficiency index, which averages results across tested subjects and grades, placed Columbian in the bottom quartile relative to districts in Douglas County, a comparison that reflects the full spread of that metric across the county’s districts.
Because Columbian serves only elementary grades, it has no graduation rate to report. No chronic absenteeism data was available in the provided materials.
The school is located in Omaha, Nebraska’s largest city, a place defined by its mix of major corporate headquarters, historic commercial districts, and car-dependent residential neighborhoods. Omaha’s economy is anchored by four Fortune 500 companies headquartered in the city, and the metropolitan area has a strong professional and corporate base. The housing market in the ZIP code surrounding the school shows home values and rents that are both above the state benchmark, placing this as a relatively higher-cost part of the metro area. Unemployment rates are moderate, and median household income nationally has been stable in recent years. The school sits within a large, sprawling city where most neighborhoods outside the downtown core are suburban in character, and families are likely to be driving for most errands and commutes.
The school’s administered assessment data is from the 2024-25 school year. The comparison fact-set uses a “county districts” universe, meaning Columbian is placed among all districts in Douglas County; note that this compares the school to district-level averages, which is an imperfect analogy for a single elementary school but is the frame provided. No information on staffing, class sizes, discipline, course access, or magnet or Title I status was available in the data, so these dimensions cannot be described. The school is a regular, non-charter public school.
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