The top reported proficiency rate is 84% in Math. The lowest is 77% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Sundance Elementary
Sundance Elementary sits in a small county-seat town along Interstate 90 in northeastern Wyoming, serving kindergarten through sixth grade as part of Crook County School District #1. The town functions as a civic hub for the surrounding county, with the courthouse, sheriff's office, and library clustered near a compact downtown along Cleveland Street. Devils Tower National Monument lies a short drive north, and the Bear Lodge Mountains rise just to the town's north. Publicly reported sources describe the area as flat or slowly declining in population, with no major residential developments on the horizon. Home values in the ZIP code run above both state and national benchmarks, and the price-to-income ratio sits near five, meaning a family shopping for a home here faces a somewhat elevated affordability picture relative to typical household earnings. The town's small footprint means most daily errands outside the immediate downtown corridor require a vehicle.
The school is small for its grade band, with a modest total enrollment spread across seven grades. Its student body is nearly entirely white, with only a handful of students identifying as American Indian or Alaska Native, Hispanic, or two or more races. The share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch is low, suggesting relatively limited economic need among enrolled families compared with many public schools nationally. Data on individualized education programs and English learner status was not reported, so those population figures are unavailable here. Because the school serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to report, and that gap reflects the grade band rather than anything about the school's performance.
On the WY-TOPP assessment, Sundance Elementary posted strong results across the board in the most recent year. Math proficiency rises steadily from third grade through sixth grade, with the highest grade reaching a very high proficiency level. English language arts follows a similar upward pattern, with the upper grades performing particularly well. The single tested science grade also showed a solid majority of students meeting proficiency. Participation rates were at or near full across all tested grades. These are the kind of results that point to consistent instruction building across the elementary years, with students generally stronger as they move toward the transition to secondary school.
A few things are worth noting for a parent weighing this school. The school does not have multi-year trend data available, so it is hard to say whether these proficiency levels represent steady performance, recent improvement, or a single strong cohort. The county-level comparison set could not be meaningfully computed because Crook County contains only one district, so there is no local peer benchmark to position Sundance Elementary against. The district brief turned up no recently reported parent-relevant changes, such as program additions, boundary shifts, or facility projects, so families would need to check directly with the district for current initiatives. Special population data, staffing ratios, course access details, and discipline information were not available in the provided data. A parent may want to look into these areas further with the school, particularly if their child has specific support needs.
What the picture does show is a small, homogenous elementary school in a rural county-seat setting, producing proficiency results that run high across subjects and grades, in a housing market that is somewhat pricier than the state and national medians. For a family already in or drawn to the Sundance area, the academic evidence here is encouraging, and the gaps are the kind that a conversation with the school can fill.
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