Summary:
Bowman County 1 is home to a single high school, Bowman County High School, which serves grades 7 through 12 in Bowman, North Dakota, with a total enrollment of 231 students. The district itself, Bowman County 1, is ranked 50th out of 134 districts in the state, earning a 3-star rating, and the school has shown a positive trend by moving from a 2-star to a 3-star rating over the past three years.
The most striking feature of Bowman County High School is its exceptionally high graduation rate of 96.9% for the 2024-2025 school year, which far exceeds the state average of 84.2%. However, this success in keeping students in school contrasts sharply with academic performance, particularly in math, where only 10% of students are proficient—well below the state average of 41%. In reading and science, the school performs better, with 49.5% and 39.5% proficiency rates respectively, both above state averages. The school benefits from a low student-teacher ratio of 12.9:1 and spends $13,927 per student, suggesting that resources are not the issue but rather a specific challenge in math instruction.
For parents, this means Bowman County High School is a place where students are highly likely to graduate, but they may need extra support in mathematics to meet grade-level standards. The school's reading and science programs are relative strengths, outperforming the state, and the steady improvement in state ranking is encouraging. The low free/reduced lunch rate of 18.61% indicates a lower level of economic disadvantage compared to many schools, and the small class sizes allow for more individualized attention. Overall, this is a school that excels at student retention and has solid literacy and science outcomes, but has a clear area for growth in math proficiency.
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