Middle School at Syracuse, Syracuse NE

Original Research by School Decision on Middle School at Syracuse

Middle School at Syracuse serves students in grades four through eight as a regular public school within the Syracuse-Dunbar-Avoca district. It is the only middle school in this small, agriculture-based community situated at the junction of two highways roughly halfway between Lincoln and Omaha. The town’s compact footprint means school facilities sit within easy reach of downtown and residential streets, and the community has been growing slowly, drawing young families seeking quiet streets or acreage.

The student body is predominantly white, with a modest share of students from other racial and ethnic backgrounds. About one in five students qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a rate that is fairly low relative to many Nebraska schools. Class sizes across grades four through eight are moderate, and the total enrollment places this school in the smaller range for a middle school serving five grade levels. Data on special education and English learner populations was not available in the reporting used here.

Academically, performance on the Nebraska Student-Centered Assessment System varies notably by subject and grade level. In mathematics, the share of students meeting proficiency standards is strong in grades five and six, then drops somewhat in grades four and seven before rising again in grade eight. In English language arts, proficiency rates are more modest across the board: grade five shows the highest rate, while grade eight falls below half of students meeting the bar. Science is tested in grades five and eight. Fifth-grade science performance stands out as very high, with a large majority of students scoring proficient. By contrast, eighth-grade science shows no students reaching the proficiency threshold. This dramatic difference is worth a closer conversation with the school, as it may reflect a small testing cohort, a curriculum gap, or other factors that the published data alone cannot explain.

When placed alongside the two other school districts in Otoe County, Middle School at Syracuse’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades sits below the midpoint. The county’s small number of districts makes this comparison a narrow one, but it does suggest that the school’s academic profile is not the strongest in the local area. That said, the strong showing in fifth-grade science and in upper-elementary math indicates that certain grade levels and subjects perform at a competitive level.

The town of Syracuse offers a modest housing market with home values that are generally in line with the Nebraska state average and well below national levels. The local economy is built around agriculture, with implement dealerships, a grain elevator, retail, and professional services. No large employer dominates, and the community relies on a mix of small businesses and municipal services. Recreational amenities include parks, a swimming pool, a golf course, and ball fields, and the town hosts annual festivals such as GermanFest and the Tannenbaum Festival. Plans for a future bike-walk path at the ball complex have been mentioned by the city.

No recent parent-relevant changes within the district were found in public reporting, and the district’s website provides standard fiscal and operational summaries without any notable curriculum shifts, facility bond issues, or policy updates. For a parent evaluating this school, the academic picture is uneven: some grades and subjects deliver solid results, while others lag. The eighth-grade science result is the most conspicuous soft spot and merits direct inquiry. For families who value a small, rural setting with a stable community and reasonable housing costs, Middle School at Syracuse provides a familiar environment, but the academic variability across grades is something to consider.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 457%

School 57% · District 90% · ▼ 33 pts below district

▲ 57 pts above state median

Grade 575%

School 75% · district not reported

▲ 75 pts above state median

Grade 680%

School 80% · District 92% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▲ 80 pts above state median

Grade 759%

School 59% · District 82% · ▼ 23 pts below district

▲ 59 pts above state median

Grade 870%

School 70% · district not reported

▲ 70 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 454%

School 54% · District 74% · ▼ 20 pts below district

▲ 14 pts above state median

Grade 563%

School 63% · District 77% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▲ 63 pts above state median

Grade 652%

School 52% · District 86% · ▼ 34 pts below district

▲ 46 pts above state median

Grade 759%

School 59% · District 83% · ▼ 25 pts below district

▲ 59 pts above state median

Grade 849%

School 49% · District 62% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▲ 49 pts above state median

Science

Grade 588%

School 88% · district not reported

▲ 88 pts above state median

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 81% · ▼ 81 pts below district

even with state median

This schoolSYRACUSE-DUNBAR-AVOCA 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

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income84%Higher-income96%12 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income64%Higher-income89%25 pp gap