Omaha Public Schools is the largest elementary and secondary public education system in Nebraska. A nonpartisan, twelve-member board of education appoints a superintendent.
The following is a summary of data regarding the Omaha public schools as of the 2003–2004 school year.
Total enrollment: 46,035
Number of facilities
elementary schools: 63
middle schools: 11
high schools: 8
other: 5
Student/teacher ratio: 16:1
Teacher salaries average: $46,666
Funding per pupil: $7,293
An extensive parochial school system as well as a number of private schools provides complete curricula, including religious instruction, for students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. The most notable private institution is Boys Town, a residential facility founded in 1917 as the "city of little men" by Father Edward J. Flanagan.
Public Schools Information: Omaha Public Schools, 3215 Cuming St., Omaha, NE 68131-2024; telephone (402)557-2222
The University of Nebraska at Omaha, with an enrollment of 14,000 students, awards graduate and undergraduate degrees in such fields as business, chemistry, engineering, social work, criminal justice, elementary education, and fine and dramatic arts. Affiliated with the university is the University of Nebraska Medical Center, which offers programs at all degree levels from associate to doctorate in areas that include dental hygiene, dentistry, medical technology, medicine, nuclear medicine technology, nursing, pharmacy, physical therapy, physician's assistant, radiation technology, and radiological technology.
Awarding associate through doctorate degrees, Creighton University is a private institution with colleges of arts and sciences and business administration and schools of law, nursing, pharmacy and allied health, dentistry, medicine, and graduate study and an annual enrollment of more than 6,500 students. Opened in 1943, Grace University is a private school with some 500 enrollees. Among the colleges located in the Omaha area are the College of Saint Mary (more than 900 attendees) and Metropolitan Community College (nearly 13,000 students). Area vocational schools offer specialized and technical training.
The Omaha Public Library operates a main downtown facility, the W. Dale Clark Library (built in 1976), and nine branches while also providing services for the hearing- and visually-impaired. With holdings of nearly 800,000 volumes, plus videos, music cassette tapes, and compact discs, the library is also a depository for federal and state documents. Extensive main and departmental libraries are located on the campuses of all colleges and universities in the city. The University Library at the University of Nebraska consists of more than 750,000 volumes including 3,000 newspaper and journal subscriptions plus about two million microforms. Other libraries in Omaha are associated with government agencies, corporations, hospitals, religious groups, arts organizations, and the local newspaper.
Research centers affiliated with Omaha-area colleges and universities conduct studies in such fields as cancer, allergies, gerontology, human genetics, and neonatology. Founded in 1960, the Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases, is funded by the National Cancer Institute and housed at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, conducts research programs in biochemistry, biology, chemistry, immunology, nutrition, pathology, pharmacology, and virology.
Public Library Information: Omaha Public Library, 215 S 15th St., Omaha, NE 68102; telephone (402)444-4800; email webdesk@omaha.lib.ne.us