COLUMBUS MIDDLE SCHOOL

Located at 2200 26TH ST, in COLUMBUS, Nebraska, COLUMBUS MIDDLE SCHOOL is a heavily attended junior high that works with 1,166 students (grades 5 through 8), one of the schools within COLUMBUS PUBLIC SCHOOLS. Enrollment runs roughly 184% above the state mean of about 411.

Across the 9 schools in COLUMBUS PUBLIC SCHOOLS (4,171 students total), COLUMBUS MIDDLE SCHOOL accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

In terms of who attends, COLUMBUS MIDDLE SCHOOL shows that the most-represented group is Hispanic (54%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups. Beyond that, the school lists 42% White. The wider county runs roughly 24% Hispanic, putting the school's mix meaningfully more Hispanic than the area baseline.

Looking at the economic backdrop, COLUMBUS MIDDLE SCHOOL lists 74 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 15.7:1. That figure is higher than the state norm's 14.5:1 average. Around 61% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. By comparison, Platte County runs at roughly 50%, so the school's eligibility rate is above the surrounding baseline.

After controlling for student poverty, COLUMBUS MIDDLE SCHOOL falls in the UNDERPERFORMING tier of the BeatsExpectations residual. Given its student profile, a typical campus would land near 54.9%; this one comes in at 45.9%, -8.9 points off the demographic line.

Zooming out to the county, community-level numbers for Platte County indicate the typical household earns roughly $71,552 per year, roughly 23% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 8%. In all, Platte County runs 19 public schools (combined enrollment of about 5,530 students), of which COLUMBUS MIDDLE SCHOOL is one.

Nearest neighbor: PATHWAYS BEYOND/EARLY STEPS TO SUCCESS BUILDING, around 0.2 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 6 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), COLUMBUS MIDDLE SCHOOL ranks 5th on composite proficiency, below the local average of 49.7%.

The school occupies a small-town site.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count increased 5%: 1,110 students in 2018 compared to 1,166 in 2025. The White share of enrollment contracted from 55% to 42% over that span.

On the community side, posts here usually surface around sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.