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BISMARCK HIGH SCHOOL

Bismarck · ND · BISMARCK 1 · Public

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📚AP rigor: 90th percentile nationally 📖13 AP courses

📋 At a glance

Programs & features
  • 📚 13 AP courses offered — Elite
  • ✅ Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
  • 🔢 6 calculus classes · 2 physics · 20 chemistry
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: 90th percentile nationally
  • 📝 SAT/ACT participation: 82th percentile by test-taker volume
  • 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 94% (69th percentile nationally)

Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts ACGR, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.

💡

How BISMARCK HIGH SCHOOL compares for families

Standout academic depth by national standards.

  • StatewideAP rigor in the top 10% nationally with 13 AP courses.
  • LocallyND students outperform the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math (+9 points).
  • vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: Light Of Christ Catholic Schools, Shiloh Christian School, CENTURY HIGH SCHOOL and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

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🎓 Academic rigor

AP + advanced-course offerings

Elite — exceptional AP + advanced course breadth

90th percentile nationally

50th 90th ↑ this school
Less rigorMore rigorMost rigor
AP courses offered
13
Math ✓ · Science ✓
Advanced math classes
16
6 calculus · 10 advanced
Lab science classes
22
2 physics · 20 chemistry
Other rigor signals
✅ Dual-enrollment program

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). CRDC reports what's offered + enrolled — it doesn't collect AP exam pass rates (College Board owns that data and doesn't release it school-level).

SAT / ACT participation

CRDC federal data · 2020-21

82th percentile by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
264
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
19.3
takers per 100 students in grades 9-12
Compared against
18,426
US high schools reporting SAT/ACT participation

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). Volume — not score — is what's reported here. A higher count means more students at this school are entering the college admissions pipeline. Note: 2020-21 was COVID-disrupted; some districts (especially those that stayed remote longer) report unusually low or zero takers.

🎓 4-year graduation rate · federal EDFacts

What % of students graduate on time?

69th percentile nationally

50th 90th
4-year graduation rate
94%
Single-point estimate
4-year cohort size
287
Students in the 9th-grade entry class tracked over 4 years
Compared against
17,988
US high schools reporting 4-year ACGR

Source: federal EDFacts ACGR (Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate), 2019 vintage via Urban Institute. EDFacts publishes a range (low-high) to preserve privacy on small cohorts; we display the midpoint.

👩‍🏫 Teacher workforce · federal CRDC

Teacher experience & reliability

% inexperienced teachers (1st-2nd yr)
12.2%
Typical mix. Watch the trend — high turnover can compound.
% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)
21.6%
Elevated. Teacher absence directly affects classroom continuity and student outcomes.

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2017-18 — the most recent vintage that publishes per-school teacher quality fields; the 2020-21 sweep had them suppressed). "Inexperienced" = teachers in their first or second year. "Chronic absence" = teachers absent 10+ days/year.

🏛️ Federal Title I context

Lower-need school

Not Title I eligible (FRPL < 25%)

24.4%
FRPL rate — % of students who qualify for the federal Free or Reduced-Price Lunch program. This is the underlying federal income-eligibility signal Title I designations are computed from (ESEA Sec. 1113).
0% (no FRPL) 35% TA · 40% Schoolwide 100% (universal FRPL)

<25% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. Well below the Title I threshold; expect a higher-income student body on average.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, free/reduced-price lunch eligibility. The actual Title I designation is a district decision and may differ from eligibility — but the federal eligibility math is what we show here. We don't claim to assert whether the district formally chose to enroll this school in Title I.

Chronic absenteeism

Share of students absent 15+ days
23.5%
Elevated above the national average (~16%). Worth understanding — chronic absence compounds into dropout risk, transfer-out risk, and revenue loss.
Students absent 15+ days
321
Federal definition: absent (excused or unexcused) for at least 15 of ~180 school days — about 10% of the school year.

Why this matters to enrollment: Chronic absence is the most reliable early indicator that a student will leave a school — either by transferring out, dropping out, or matriculating to a charter or private alternative. At this level, today's absentees become next year's enrollment loss and the year-after's revenue loss. For school leaders: an Enrollment Trend Audit traces this dynamic forward →

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020–2021. Rate = students chronically absent ÷ 2024 total enrollment.

Counselor capacity

Student : Counselor
342:1
Above the ASCA 250:1 target but below the US median (~430:1). Capacity is workable.
Counselor FTE
4.0
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
84
Full-time-equivalent classroom teachers.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020-2021. Counselor ratio = the school's most recent total enrollment ÷ counselor FTE. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommends a 250:1 maximum; the US national median across schools with on-staff counselors is roughly 430:1.

Enrollment trend & projection

Grade 12 went from 271 in 2021 to 294 in 2024 — over 3 years.
+8.5%

Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of +3.3%/year, projecting from 2024's 1,367 students:

2025
1,413
2027
1,508
2029
1,610

An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.

Revenue upside

At $16,227 per student in district revenue, the 243 students projected to be gained by 2029 represent ≈ $3,943,161/year in additional funding.

District total revenue ÷ enrollment, NCES F-33. Public funding largely follows enrollment, so a shrinking class is a recurring budget hit.

Nearby high schools — the local competition

The closest high schools families here also consider, and where their enrollment is heading.

SchoolTypeMilesHS enrollmentTrend
Light Of Christ Catholic Schools
Bismarck
Private 0.4 1,212 +345.6%
Shiloh Christian School
Bismarck
Private 1.7 538 +12.6%
CENTURY HIGH SCHOOL
Bismarck
Public 1.8 1,406 +5.6%
LEGACY HIGH SCHOOL
Bismarck
Public 3.1 1,419 +2.5%
St Mary'S Central High School
Bismarck
Private 3.8 336 +1.5%
MANDAN HIGH SCHOOL
Mandan
Public 6.1 1,175 +2.7%
BRAVE CENTER ACADEMY
Mandan
Public 6.1 50
MARMOT SCHOOL 6-12
Mandan
Public 6.2 19

For Parents

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