The top reported proficiency rate is 70% in Science. The lowest is 0% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Wheeler Central High
Wheeler Central High is a regular public school serving grades seven through twelve in the village of Bartlett, Nebraska, the county seat of Wheeler County. It is part of the Wheeler Central Schools district, a very small rural system. The school itself is tiny, with a total enrollment that places it among the smallest secondary schools in the state. The student body is overwhelmingly white, with a very small share of students identifying as Hispanic or Black. A modest share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.
The village of Bartlett is a shrinking Great Plains agricultural community. Its population has declined steadily over recent decades, and the housing stock is small with a notable vacancy rate. The village covers a very small land area, and its civic life centers on the county courthouse and a post office. There is no indication of new development or growth. The district itself is similarly small, and a search for recent district-level changes turned up little of lasting impact.
State testing data for Wheeler Central High is available for the most recent school year, but the results are mixed and should be read with the school's tiny enrollment in mind. In seventh-grade math, a majority of students scored at the proficient level. In eighth-grade math, no students scored proficient. In seventh-grade English language arts, no students scored proficient. In eighth-grade science, a substantial majority scored proficient. The multi-year trend data shows that in English language arts, the proficiency rate across all tested grades was above half in the most recent year, but the eighth-grade result pulled the overall figure down. In math, the all-grades proficiency rate was above the midpoint. In science, the rate was high. Because the school is very small, a single year's results can swing sharply based on a handful of students, and these figures should be read with that context in mind. A parent may want to discuss the school's approach to literacy and math instruction directly with the staff.
The school serves grades seven through twelve, and a graduation rate was not available in the data. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. Information on special education and English learner populations was not reported. Data on discipline, course access, staffing, and attendance was also absent from the available records. The comparison set that would normally place this school relative to other districts in Wheeler County could not be applied, because Wheeler County contains only this single district, so there is no peer group to compare against.
For a family considering this school, the context is everything. Wheeler Central High sits in a depopulating rural county where the school itself is the center of the community for secondary education. The academic results are uneven, with science performance a clear strength and literacy and math results varying sharply by grade and year. The school is very small, which means students receive a high degree of individual attention by necessity, but also that course offerings and extracurricular breadth may be limited compared to larger schools. A parent considering this school would want to speak directly with the principal and teachers about the academic program, the support available for students who are not yet proficient, and the range of opportunities for high school students in a setting this size.
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