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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at NORRIS MIDDLE SCHOOL?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
560
Middle
DISTRICT 586 · STATE 411
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·NORRIS SCHOOL DIST 160·NCES 310008801317
NORRIS MIDDLE SCHOOL
25211 S 68TH ST, FIRTH, NE 68358 · (402) 791-0020 · Lancaster County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE42-RURALREGULAR SCHOOL560 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
15.5:1
36 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.6:1 · STATE 14.5:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
8%
45 students
DISTRICT 8% · STATE 37%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 180 | 32% |
| Grade 7 | 192 | 34% |
| Grade 8 | 188 | 34% |
Student demographics
13%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 14% · STATE 57% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
NORRIS MIDDLE SCHOOL→NORRIS HIGH SCHOOL
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within NORRIS SCHOOL DIST 160. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
NSCAS 2024-25 . % On Track + AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
67.1%
NE avg 57.6%
Math
61.9%
NE avg 60.6%
What this means: On the NSCAS, Nebraska's statewide test, about 67 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 62 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Nebraska schools, those numbers are about 58 and 61.
Source: NSCAS. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of NE schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
59.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
73.6%
based on NE schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-14.1pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 60% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 74% typical for Nebraska schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Where NORRIS MIDDLE SCHOOL ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Nebraska | In Lancaster County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 59.5% | #50 of 86 | #6 of 10 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 61.9% | #49 of 108 | #7 of 15 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 67.1% | #23 of 109 | #4 of 15 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 560 | #53 of 143 | #12 of 15 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.5:1 | #64 of 88 | #10 of 14 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 13.3% | #88 of 88 | #14 of 14 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 8.0% | #85 of 88 | #10 of 10 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +6.7% | #18 of 32 | N/A |
Ranked against other public middle schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
560
-27 (-5%) vs 2020
+94% since 1990-91, when it was 289
Student : Teacher
15.5:1
was 18.3:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 560 | 36.2 | 15.5:1 | 8% (45) |
| 2023-24 | 593 | 35.7 | 16.6:1 | 14% (83) |
| 2022-23 | 595 | 36.6 | 16.2:1 | 12% (70) |
| 2020-21 | 587 | 32 | 18.3:1 | 12% (69) |
| 2017-18 | 525 | 32.7 | 16.1:1 | 15% (78) |
| 2015-16 | 528 | 31 | 17.0:1 | 13% (68) |
| 2010-11 | 649 | 37 | 17.5:1 | 16% (107) |
| 2000-01 | 359 | 20 | 17.9:1 | 10% (36) |
| 1990-91 | 289 | 16 | 18.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for NORRIS MIDDLE SCHOOL.
About NORRIS MIDDLE SCHOOL
NORRIS MIDDLE SCHOOL is a medium-sized middle school with an address in FIRTH, Nebraska. School enrollment was 560 students in 2024-25, in grades 6 through 8. The average among middle schools in Nebraska is roughly 411 students; this school is 36% above that.
NORRIS SCHOOL DIST 160, which runs NORRIS MIDDLE SCHOOL, has 4 schools and 2,343 students.
The student body at NORRIS MIDDLE SCHOOL is 93% White. The school is also 4% Hispanic. Lancaster County's residents are about 81% White, 12 points below the school's share. The school's diversity index is 13%, meaning two students picked at random have a 13% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
Teachers at NORRIS MIDDLE SCHOOL total 36.2 full-time equivalents, and the ratio is 15.5:1. The school has more students per teacher than the 14.5:1 average for middle schools in Nebraska. The school counts 45 students as eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, or 8%. Among public schools in Lancaster County, the average eligibility rate is 32%.
In Nebraska, NORRIS MIDDLE SCHOOL is one of the bottom 10% of schools on BeatsExpectations, with an average proficiency rate on state tests of 59.5% compared with a predicted 73.6%.
In Lancaster County (population about 326,696), the median household income is $74,793, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 42% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 7%. There are 97 public schools in Lancaster County, enrolling about 48,123 students in all.
NORRIS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is the closest public school, less than a tenth of a mile away in a straight line. In all, 3 other public schools sit within five miles of NORRIS MIDDLE SCHOOL. Of the 5 nearby schools with scores, including this one, NORRIS MIDDLE SCHOOL is 5th on average proficiency.
NORRIS MIDDLE SCHOOL is in rural territory some distance from an urban area, a location NCES labels Rural: Distant.
Enrollment dropped 5% from its 2020-21 level of 587. Its ratio of students to teachers was 18.3:1 in 2020-21, and 15.5:1 in 2024-25.
Conversations here can range across enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
Lancaster County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
326,696
Census ACS
Median income
$74,793
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
42%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
97
48,123 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in NORRIS SCHOOL DIST 160
- NORRIS HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 736 students
- NORRIS INTERMEDIATE SCHOOLElementary · 535 students
- NORRIS ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 512 students
Other schools in FIRTH
- NORRIS HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 736 students
- NORRIS INTERMEDIATE SCHOOLElementary · 535 students
- NORRIS ELEMENTARY SCHOOLElementary · 512 students
Nearby schools
- NORRIS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL0.1 mi · 512
- NORRIS HIGH SCHOOL0.1 mi · 736
- NORRIS INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL0.2 mi · 535
- STANDING BEAR HIGH SCHOOL9.4 mi · 631
- EARLY CHILDHOOD AT STANDING BEAR HS9.4 mi · 21
- FREEMAN HIGH SCHOOL9.7 mi · 220
Frequently asked questions
About NORRIS MIDDLE SCHOOLWhat is the total enrollment at NORRIS MIDDLE SCHOOL?
NORRIS MIDDLE SCHOOL enrolls approximately 560 students in grades 06-08.
What grades does NORRIS MIDDLE SCHOOL serve?
NORRIS MIDDLE SCHOOL serves grades 06-08.
How many students per teacher at NORRIS MIDDLE SCHOOL?
Approximately 15.5:1 students per teacher at NORRIS MIDDLE SCHOOL.
What is the racial breakdown of students at NORRIS MIDDLE SCHOOL?
At NORRIS MIDDLE SCHOOL, the student body is approximately 93% White, 4% Hispanic, 1% Black, 0% Asian, 2% Two or more.
Who oversees NORRIS MIDDLE SCHOOL?
NORRIS MIDDLE SCHOOL is overseen by NORRIS SCHOOL DIST 160 in Lancaster County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.