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Wachter Middle School

Public Grades 6-8
15th
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 59 North Dakota Middle Schools
Better than 75% of North Dakota middle schools
Summary

Wachter Middle School is a public middle school in Bismarck, North Dakota, serving 1,007 students in grades 6-8. It is part of the Bismarck 1 School District, which is ranked 9th out of 23 districts in the state and has a 4-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Wachter Middle School consistently outperforms the Bismarck 1 district and the state of North Dakota in standardized test scores across various subjects and grade levels. In the 2024-2025 school year, Wachter's proficiency rates in A-Plus/Math, A-Plus/Reading, and A-Plus/Science for all grades were 52%, 47%, and 62%, respectively, compared to the Bismarck 1 district's 47%, 42%, and 44%, and the state's 41%, 40%, and 38%. The school's performance is particularly strong in 8th-grade science, where 62% of students were proficient or better, compared to 50% in the Bismarck 1 district and 44% statewide. Wachter Middle School also has exceptional performance among specific student subgroups, such as female students, male students, and white students, often ranking among the top schools in the state for these groups.

While Wachter Middle School has relatively low dropout rates, ranging from 1% to 5% over the past few years, the school's chronic absenteeism rates are higher, ranging from 16% to 22% in recent years. Compared to nearby schools, Horizon Middle School has similar academic performance, while Simle Middle School lags behind Wachter in several areas, and Mandan Middle School, which is in a different district, has lower academic performance compared to Wachter across various subjects and grade levels.

1,012
Students ?
14.6
Student/teacher ratio ?
$13,318
Per pupil spending ?
30.7%
Free/discounted lunch ?
 1107 S 7th St
       Bismarck, ND  58504

(701) 323-4650

District: Bismarck 1


Students who attend Wachter Middle School usually attend:

High:    Bismarck High School

Feeder schools for Wachter Middle School:

Elementary:    Dorothy Moses Elementary School
    Jeannette Myhre Elementary School
    Lincoln Elementary School
    Prairie Rose Elementary School
    More...
Racial breakdown:

White:
67.9%
American Indian:
11.6%
Two or more races:
8.8%
more
 See top rated North Dakota middle schools

 Compare Wachter Middle School to nearby middle schools!
At a glance
Ranking trend: Improving — 25th percentile in 2016 → 75th in 2025
Strengths
Test scores above the North Dakota average (54% vs 40% meeting standards)
Ranking is trending up — up 50 percentile points since 2016
Above the North Dakota median (75th percentile)
Worth a look
!Some student groups rank well below the school's overall statewide standing
Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?
This school54%
District avg44%
North Dakota avg40%
15th of 59
North Dakota public middle schools ?
Top 25%▲ up 46 pts since 2015
From bottom 29% (2015) to top 25% (2025)
See the entire ranking list of North Dakota Middle Schools →
SchoolDigger rating ?
1st of 3Middle Schools in the Bismarck 1
67th of 134Bismarck 1 among North Dakota districts
Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Dakota percentileRating
202562.315 of 5974.6%★★★★☆
202461.416 of 5771.9%★★★★☆
202359.517 of 6172.1%★★★★☆
202238.936 of 6141.0%★★☆☆☆
202130.148 of 6020.0%★☆☆☆☆
202045.032 of 5541.8%★★☆☆☆
201944.832 of 5541.8%★★☆☆☆
201828.347 of 5514.5%★☆☆☆☆
201733.441 of 5221.2%★☆☆☆☆
201636.640 of 5324.5%★☆☆☆☆
201537.937 of 5228.8%★★☆☆☆
201450.184 of 13638.2%★★☆☆☆
201347.194 of 13530.4%★★☆☆☆
201247.685 of 12431.5%★★☆☆☆

African American

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Dakota percentileRating
202359.26 of 1560.0%★★★★☆
202245.87 of 1450.0%★★★☆☆
202136.08 of 1338.5%★★★☆☆

English Language Learner

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Dakota percentileRating
202584.41 of 1291.7%★★★★★
202266.32 of 977.8%★★★★☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Dakota percentileRating
202553.214 of 3762.2%★★★☆☆
202459.010 of 3672.2%★★★★☆
202362.39 of 3976.9%★★★★☆
202244.619 of 3748.6%★★★☆☆
202134.928 of 3724.3%★★☆☆☆
202051.316 of 3452.9%★★★☆☆
201950.816 of 3452.9%★★★☆☆
201833.625 of 3119.4%★☆☆☆☆
201727.831 of 348.8%★☆☆☆☆
201636.924 of 3225.0%★☆☆☆☆
201537.121 of 3030.0%★★☆☆☆

Hispanic

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Dakota percentileRating
202563.24 of 1471.4%★★★★☆
202482.62 of 1485.7%★★★★★
202369.93 of 1478.6%★★★★☆
202276.82 of 1384.6%★★★★★
202050.17 of 1241.7%★★★☆☆
201948.58 of 1338.5%★★★☆☆
201840.77 of 1030.0%★★☆☆☆
201720.28 of 80.0%★☆☆☆☆
201633.85 of 50.0%★★★☆☆

Homeless

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Dakota percentileRating
202487.41 of 366.7%★★★★★

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Dakota percentileRating
202551.911 of 3164.5%★★★☆☆
202456.88 of 2871.4%★★★★☆
202343.114 of 2850.0%★★★☆☆
202236.218 of 2425.0%★★☆☆☆
202115.124 of 240.0%☆☆☆☆☆
202025.923 of 2611.5%★☆☆☆☆
201925.523 of 2611.5%★☆☆☆☆
201817.124 of 254.0%☆☆☆☆☆
201722.224 of 254.0%☆☆☆☆☆
201620.621 of 238.7%★☆☆☆☆
201527.422 of 234.3%☆☆☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Dakota percentileRating
202567.46 of 3783.8%★★★★☆
202458.713 of 3663.9%★★★☆☆
202353.712 of 3969.2%★★★★☆
202235.227 of 3727.0%★★☆☆☆
202129.130 of 3718.9%★☆☆☆☆
202039.525 of 3426.5%★★☆☆☆
201939.325 of 3426.5%★★☆☆☆
201828.027 of 3112.9%★☆☆☆☆
201740.623 of 3432.4%★★☆☆☆
201631.425 of 3221.9%★☆☆☆☆
201535.622 of 3026.7%★☆☆☆☆

Military Connected

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Dakota percentileRating
202367.22 of 560.0%★★★★☆

Native American

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Dakota percentileRating
202537.77 of 1030.0%★★☆☆☆
202447.87 of 1241.7%★★★☆☆
202350.06 of 1040.0%★★☆☆☆
202225.510 of 100.0%☆☆☆☆☆
202110.19 of 90.0%★☆☆☆☆
202032.08 of 1020.0%★☆☆☆☆
201933.87 of 922.2%★★☆☆☆
201825.87 of 812.5%★★☆☆☆
201734.65 of 728.6%★★★☆☆
201630.27 of 70.0%★★☆☆☆
201531.35 of 616.7%★★★☆☆

White

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNorth Dakota percentileRating
202584.11 of 2395.7%★★★★★
202478.63 of 2487.5%★★★★★
202373.44 of 2281.8%★★★★☆
202254.911 of 2454.2%★★★☆☆
202133.419 of 2213.6%★☆☆☆☆
202051.212 of 2142.9%★★☆☆☆
201951.212 of 2142.9%★★☆☆☆
201827.217 of 2015.0%★☆☆☆☆
201731.815 of 1921.1%★☆☆☆☆
201636.115 of 1921.1%★☆☆☆☆
201537.113 of 1827.8%★★☆☆☆
How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)
White (2025)96th percentile+21 vs school
English Language Learner (2025)92nd percentile+17 vs school
Male (2025)84th percentile+9 vs school
Hispanic (2025)71st percentile-3 vs school
Homeless (2024)67th percentile-5 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2025)65th percentile-10 vs school
Female (2025)62nd percentile-12 vs school
Military Connected (2023)60th percentile-12 vs school
African American (2023)60th percentile-12 vs school
Native American (2025)30th percentile-45 vs school
By subject vs North Dakota (2024-2025) ?
Science62%+24 vs state
Math52%+11 vs state
Reading47%+7 vs state

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Frequently Asked Questions about Wachter Middle School

Wachter Middle School ranks 15th of 59 North Dakota middle schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 4 stars out of 5.

Students who attend Wachter Middle School usually go on to attend Bismarck High School

In the 2024-25 school year, 1,012 students attended Wachter Middle School.

Students at Wachter Middle School are 68% White, 12% American Indian, 9% Two or more races, 8% Hispanic, 2% African American, 1% Pacific Islander.


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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction.

About North Dakota Assessment Data: To protect student privacy, the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction reports assessment results as percentage ranges rather than exact values. SchoolDigger calculates proficiency rates using midpoint imputation, which uses the center value of each reported range. For example, a reported range of 20-29% is represented as 24.5%. As a result, the proficiency rates shown may vary by approximately ±5 percentage points from actual values. This variance is most significant for individual grade/subject combinations and diminishes when data is aggregated across multiple grades or subjects.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.





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