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Niobrara County High School

Lusk · WY · Niobrara County School District #1 · Public

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📋 At a glance

Programs & features
  • 📚 6 AP courses offered — Strong
  • ✅ Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
  • 🔢 1 calculus classes · 2 physics · 3 chemistry
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: 63th percentile nationally
  • 📝 SAT/ACT participation: Bottom 42% by test-taker volume
  • 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 42% (Bottom 8% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate)

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

💡

How Niobrara County High School compares for families

Solid mid-tier academic profile.

  • StatewideAP rigor at the 63th percentile nationally with 6 AP courses.
  • LocallyWY students outperform the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math (+5 points).
  • vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: Glendo Day Program, Guernsey-Sunrise High School, Lingle-Ft. Laramie High School and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

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🎓 Academic rigor

AP + advanced-course offerings

Strong — solid AP program + advanced courses

63th percentile nationally

50th 90th ↑ this school
Less rigorMore rigorMost rigor
AP courses offered
6
Science ✓
Advanced math classes
3
1 calculus · 2 advanced
Lab science classes
5
2 physics · 3 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

Bottom 42% by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
48
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
12.4
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?

Bottom 8% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate

50th 90th
4-year graduation rate
42%
Range: 40–44%
4-year cohort size
77
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)
0%
Strong: experienced corps. New teachers rotate through but most have ≥3 years in.
% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)
35.3%
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.

Chronic absenteeism

Share of students absent 15+ days
1.6%
Below 10% — strong attendance culture. Chronic absence is a leading indicator of dropout and disengagement; a low rate signals families staying connected to the school.
Students absent 15+ days
6
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: A low chronic-absence rate is the cleanest school-level signal of strong family connection, classroom culture, and student engagement — all upstream drivers of enrollment stability. 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
129:1
Below the ASCA 250:1 recommendation — strong capacity for college planning, course selection, and student supports.
Counselor FTE
3.0
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
78
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 91 in 2021 to 88 in 2024 — over 3 years.
-3.3%

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

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of +7.2%/year, projecting from 2024's 387 students:

2025
415
2027
477
2029
548

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

Revenue upside

At $10,708 per student in district revenue, the 161 students projected to be gained by 2029 represent ≈ $1,723,988/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
Glendo Day Program
Glendo
Public 33.5
Guernsey-Sunrise High School
Guernsey
Public 37.1 59 -15.7%
Lingle-Ft. Laramie High School
Lingle
Public 43.5 107 +21.6%
Douglas High School
Douglas
Public 46.0 511 -0.4%
Platte River School
Torrington
Public 49.1 26
Torrington High School
Torrington
Public 49.7 328 -0.6%
Saint Joseph's Children's Home
Torrington
Public 50.4 2
Wheatland High School
Wheatland
Public 54.6 258 -5.8%

For Parents

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