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)
272358001160	211	Nicollet Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-6	1 Pine St	Nicollet	56074	Nicollet County	Nicollet Public School District	No	No	No	Yes	(507) 232-3411	163	12	13.1	27.6%	150 (92.0%)	4 (2.5%)	8 (4.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$12,920							74.3	53	441	230
272124005511	212	Barton Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	4237 Colfax Ave South	Minneapolis	55409	Hennepin County	Minneapolis Public School District	No	No	No	No	(612) 668-3580	506	33	15.4	31.2%	325 (64.2%)	53 (10.5%)	59 (11.7%)	10 (2.0%)	15 (3.0%)	1 (0.2%)	43 (8.5%)								74.3	66.1	298	86
272520001209	213	Cedar Island Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	6777 Hemlock Ln	Maple Grove	55369	Hennepin County	Osseo Public School District	No	No	No	No	(763) 425-5855	468	30	15.6	35.3%	264 (56.4%)	101 (21.6%)	34 (7.3%)	11 (2.4%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	56 (12.0%)	$14,344							74.2	76.7	185	28
270032804394	214	Knoll Elementary	Public	PK, KG-6	200 Trojan Dr	Ortonville	56278	Big Stone County	Ortonville Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(320) 839-6181	267	17	15.7	39.7%	234 (87.6%)	2 (0.7%)	19 (7.1%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (3.7%)	$12,965							74.2	83.6	108	106
272814001240	215	Paynesville Area Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	205 W Mill St	Paynesville	56362	Stearns County	Paynesville Area Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(320) 243-3725	436	27	16.1	29.1%	396 (90.8%)	2 (0.5%)	21 (4.8%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	13 (3.0%)	$11,355							74	70.1	250	35
270012700131	216	Argyle Elementary	Public	PK, KG-6	705 Lincoln Ave	Argyle	56713	Marshall County	Stephen-Argyle Central Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(218) 437-3314	153	9	17.2	29.4%	140 (91.5%)	1 (0.7%)	10 (6.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.3%)	$13,862							74	63.2	323	107
270810000336	217	Golden Lake Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1 School Rd	Circle Pines	55014	Anoka County	Centennial Public School District	No	No	No	Yes	(763) 792-5900	385	26	14.6	38.2%	229 (59.5%)	36 (9.4%)	46 (11.9%)	44 (11.4%)	4 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (6.8%)	$12,470							74	79.4	147	70
271137002557	218	Otsego Elementary	Public	K-4	8125 NE River Rd	Otsego	55330	Sherburne County	Elk River Public School District	No	No	No	Yes	(763) 241-3494	549	30	18	22.0%	422 (76.9%)	30 (5.5%)	39 (7.1%)	24 (4.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	34 (6.2%)	$11,654							74	75.2	201	17
270028703667	219	Plainview-Elgin-Millville 4-6	Public	4-6	210 2nd St SW	Elgin	55932	Wabasha County	Plainview-Elgin-Millville	No	No	No	No	(507) 876-2213	329	20	16.1	38.0%	285 (86.6%)	0 (0.0%)	37 (11.2%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.8%)	$8,397							73.8	78.8	157	62
270609000248	220	Baxter Elementary	Public	PK, KG-4	12191 Jasperwood Drive	Baxter	56425	Crow Wing County	Brainerd Public School District	No	No	No	No	(218) 454-6400	534	39	13.7	34.6%	492 (92.1%)	4 (0.7%)	11 (2.1%)	6 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (3.9%)	$11,504							73.8	74.7	206	14

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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:

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

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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