Best Public Schools in Fargo, ND

The city of Fargo, North Dakota is home to 29 schools, including 21 elementary schools, 3 middle schools, and 5 high schools, serving students from kindergarten through 12th grade. The Fargo school district, along with the neighboring West Fargo district, provide a range of educational options for families in the area.

Among the standout schools in Fargo are Longfellow Elementary School, which consistently ranks as one of the top elementary schools in the state, with exceptional test scores in math and reading. Other highly-ranked schools include Horace Mann Roosevelt Elementary School and Clara Barton Hawthorne Elementary School, which have achieved 4- and 5-star ratings from SchoolDigger despite serving student populations with high percentages of free and reduced-price lunch recipients. At the high school level, Fargo Davies High School and North High School stand out as the top-performing schools in the Fargo 1 district, with higher graduation rates and lower dropout rates compared to district and state averages.

While the Fargo schools generally perform well, with a four-year graduation rate of 84.2% and a dropout rate of 4.0%, the data also reveals some areas of concern. Chronic absenteeism is a persistent issue, with all schools in the data set reporting a rate of 20.0%. Additionally, there is a wide range of academic performance across the schools, with some struggling to meet state proficiency standards, particularly in reading. The data suggests that socioeconomic factors, such as the percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch, may play a role in academic outcomes, though further analysis would be needed to confirm any such relationship.