Prairie Queen Elementary, Papillion NE

Original Research by School Decision on Prairie Queen Elementary

Prairie Queen Elementary serves students from preschool through sixth grade and operates as a regular public school within the Papillion La Vista Community Schools district, a fast-growing suburban system southwest of Omaha. The school sits in Papillion, a community that has seen steady expansion as the Omaha metro area stretches outward, with new housing developments and commercial centers reshaping the landscape. The district itself has opened new elementary and middle schools in recent years to keep pace with enrollment growth, a sign that families moving into the area will find a system actively managing capacity.

The student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Hispanic, Asian, and multiracial students, and a very low proportion of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. That economic profile is consistent with the surrounding community, where home values run well above the state average and rents are similarly high, reflecting an affluent suburban market. The school enrolls a moderate number of students for a PK-6 building, with enrollment distributed fairly evenly across the elementary grades and a slightly larger sixth-grade class.

On state assessments, Prairie Queen’s students perform at levels that place the school among the stronger schools in Sarpy County. In both mathematics and English language arts, a solid majority of students in grades three through six met proficiency standards, with math results trending upward from third to sixth grade and ELA results remaining consistently above the two-thirds mark. Science results for fifth graders were particularly high, with a large majority of students demonstrating proficiency. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school’s overall proficiency index sits in the top quarter among the county’s districts, a notable position given that the comparison set includes all regular public schools in Sarpy County.

Because the school ends at sixth grade, there is no graduation rate to examine, and chronic absenteeism data were not available. The data also did not include information on special education or English learner populations, so a parent who wants to understand how the school supports students with those needs may wish to contact the school directly. The school is not a charter or magnet, and Title I status was not reported, which likely reflects the low share of economically disadvantaged students.

The surrounding community offers a suburban lifestyle with a historic downtown core, extensive parks and trails, and major shopping destinations. Employers include data centers operated by large technology companies, a regional hospital, and the school district itself. Housing in the area has appreciated steadily, and the overall cost of living is high relative to Nebraska norms. For families who can afford the market, the school provides a strong academic foundation in a well-resourced, growing district that has demonstrated a commitment to building new school facilities as the population expands. The school’s consistent proficiency results and its position relative to other schools in the county suggest a solid academic pathway for students through the elementary and middle grades.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 367%

School 67% · District 65% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 67 pts above state median · ▲ 67 pts above county median

Grade 466%

School 66% · District 62% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 66 pts above state median · ▲ 66 pts above county median

Grade 569%

School 69% · District 63% · ▲ 6 pts above district

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

Grade 672%

School 72% · District 65% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 72 pts above state median · ▲ 72 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 368%

School 68% · District 65% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 68 pts above state median · ▲ 23 pts above county median

Grade 469%

School 69% · District 65% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Grade 572%

School 72% · District 65% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 72 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Grade 670%

School 70% · District 72% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 64 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

Science

Grade 583%

School 83% · District 87% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

This schoolPAPILLION LA VISTA COMMUNITY 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.