There are plenty of reasons people believe the school has had so much success. Some reasons include strong teachers and coaches, high standards, and a rigorous curriculum. Others believe it is due to Elkhorn Public School’s growing affluence and the high standard of living to which a majority of students have access.
Elkhorn is one of the wealthiest areas of Omaha with the median household income in Elkhorn being around $123,417 in 2022. Access to certain privileges may be a large contributor to the success.
For example, Elkhorn ACT scores are some of the highest in the state with proficiency rates at 78% in science, 74% in math, and 81% in ELA. These are the highest percentages in the area. Apart from this, 63% of students take AP classes. Resources like ACT tutors, AP textbooks, and online courses help students do better on exams.
“We have a tutoring program in the school through the counseling center, and they’ll match you up with a student that’s already taken the class,” AP history teacher Heather Wilkerson-Petersen said.
Students put in a lot of work and extra time to pass AP classes. With only so much time in class every week, studying outside of school makes the difference between students that pass the AP exams and those who don’t.
“What is much more common is for students, especially as it gets closer to the AP exam, to purchase study books on their own,” Wilkerson-Peterson said. “You need to be able to do content review on your own time.”
Apart from academics, the athletic program has also been very successful. In the past four years, most sports have qualified for state and several have won state championships including girls’ basketball, baseball, tennis, and track.
Increased access to high level training and private lessons may be a factor to this athletic success. From an early age, kids are put onto competitive sports teams around the state. Most are expected to play for some type of athletic club in order to play on varsity during high school.
“I’ve been playing club soccer for about 12 years,” sophomore Keary Friedrichsen said. “It helps during the school season because you get more touches on the ball and you have different coaches that have new perspectives compared to your high school coaches.”
Cheer is one of the most expensive activities to be involved in at the school. After making the team, cheerleaders raise around $1,200 per person in order to go to competitions and afford uniforms. The cheer team went to the National High School Cheerleading Championships in Florida in November after they earned the No. 1 spot at Regionals.
“We had to do a lot of fundraising this year because it’s very expensive, especially to go to Nationals,” cheer captain sophomore Alyssa Zagurski said.
Of course, money can only get people so far. Success also comes from hard work and a supportive community, both of which are found at Elkhorn North.
“Our coaches set high expectations for out student athletes, whether it be offseason conditioning, training, practice, you name it,” athletic director Luke Ford said. “Then the student athletes com in and they meet those expectations.”
