Best Elementary Schools in Minnesota

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Find the best Minnesota elementary schools with SchoolDigger.com! Focused on test scores for accurate rankings, our user-friendly site simplifies your search. Empower your decisions by exploring top-rated schools, only on SchoolDigger.com - the ultimate guide to K-12 schools!

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish Minnesota test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the MCA-III test scores by the Minnesota Department of Education. The most recent update was on Thursday, August 29, 2024.

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School															Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)							Ranking (2024 vs 2023)
ID	Rank (of 881)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Average Standard Score (2024)	Average Standard Score (2023)	Rank (2023)	Rank Change from 2023	SchoolDigger Rating (2024)
273381001537	451	Armstrong Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	8855 Inwood Ave S	Cottage Grove	55016	Washington County	South Washington County Schools	No	No	No	No	(651) 425-4101	308	29	10.5	40.3%	170 (55.2%)	30 (9.7%)	38 (12.3%)	39 (12.7%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (9.4%)	$15,934							53.6	45.4	526	75
270018301738	452	Walnut Grove Elementary	Public	PK, KG-6	601 Washington Ave	Walnut Grove	56180	Redwood County	Westbrook-Walnut Grove Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(507) 859-2141	310	22	13.9	58.1%	213 (68.7%)	1 (0.3%)	15 (4.8%)	77 (24.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.3%)	$13,588							53.2	50	487	35
270027803617	453	Southside Family Charter School	Public, Charter	K-8	4500 Clinton Ave S	Minneapolis	55419	Hennepin County	Southside Family Charter School	Yes	No	No	Yes	(612) 872-8322	115	15	7.7	53.0%	56 (48.7%)	26 (22.6%)	14 (12.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (4.3%)	14 (12.2%)	$13,946							53.1	64.6	312	141
271778000818	454	Orchard Lake Elementary	Public	K-5	16531 Klamath Trail	Lakeville	55044	Dakota County	Lakeville Area Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(952) 232-2100	411	34	11.9	39.2%	235 (57.2%)	43 (10.5%)	81 (19.7%)	16 (3.9%)	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	33 (8.0%)	$13,489							53.1	58.9	379	75
270944000385	455	Cold Spring Elementary	Public	PK, KG-6	601 Red River Ave N	Cold Spring	56320	Stearns County	Rocori Public School District	No	No	No	Yes	(320) 685-7534	670	44	15.2	35.8%	535 (79.9%)	5 (0.7%)	114 (17.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (2.2%)	$12,776							53	40.6	570	115
270318000123	456	Sand Creek Elementary	Public	K-5	12156 Olive St NW	Coon Rapids	55448	Anoka County	Anoka-Hennepin School District	No	No	No	No	(763) 506-4300	573	43	13.4	49.7%	294 (51.3%)	89 (15.5%)	46 (8.0%)	61 (10.6%)	4 (0.7%)	1 (0.2%)	78 (13.6%)	$12,284							52.9	49.4	492	36
270546000205	457	Independence Elementary	Public	3-5	701 Minnesota Ave	Big Lake	55309	Sherburne County	Big Lake Public School District	No	No	No	No	(763) 262-2537	694	45	15.5	38.6%	532 (76.7%)	38 (5.5%)	58 (8.4%)	19 (2.7%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	43 (6.2%)	$11,086							52.8	58.6	385	72
270318000106	458	Hamilton Elementary	Public	K-5	1374 111th Ave NW	Coon Rapids	55433	Anoka County	Anoka-Hennepin School District	No	No	No	Yes	(763) 506-2700	378	32	11.8	69.0%	147 (38.9%)	87 (23.0%)	38 (10.1%)	52 (13.8%)	5 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	49 (13.0%)	$14,254							52.5	41.7	563	105
270318000116	459	Monroe Elementary School - MSE	Public	K-5	901 Brookdale Dr N	Brooklyn Park	55444	Hennepin County	Anoka-Hennepin School District	No	No	No	Yes	(763) 506-3600	539	40	13.3	50.6%	140 (26.0%)	123 (22.8%)	57 (10.6%)	161 (29.9%)	4 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	54 (10.0%)	$15,146							52.4	66.7	283	176
270002401742	460	Warren Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	224 E Bridge Ave	Warren	56762	Marshall County	Warren-Alvarado-Oslo School District	No	No	No	Yes	(218) 745-4441	314	23	13.9	44.3%	262 (83.4%)	0 (0.0%)	42 (13.4%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (2.5%)	$14,106							52.4	62.9	328	132

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for Minnesota

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for MN student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic Students Native American Students White Students Multi-racial Students English Language Learner Students Special Education Students Low Socio Economic Status Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on MCA-III Math, MCA-III Reading, MCA-III Science test scores released by the Minnesota Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on August 29, 2024, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the Minnesota Department of Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the Minnesota Department of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Minnesota Department of Education.