Best Middle Schools in Minnesota

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Find the best Minnesota middle 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 545)	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)
273390002468	291	Motley-Staples Middle School	Public	5-8	401 Centennial Dr	Staples	56479	Wadena County	Staples-Motley School District	No	No	No	Yes	(218) 894-5400	295	18	16.6	50.8%	255 (86.4%)	3 (1.0%)	10 (3.4%)	3 (1.0%)	8 (2.7%)	1 (0.3%)	15 (5.1%)	$11,957							46.9	56	216	75
273285001429	292	Sauk Centre Secondary	Public	7-12	903 State Rd	Sauk Centre	56378	Stearns County	Sauk Centre Public School District	No	No	No	No	(320) 352-2258	608	27	22.4	38.5%	533 (87.7%)	0 (0.0%)	63 (10.4%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (1.5%)	$12,321							46.8	44.9	296	4
273048001298	293	Twin Bluff School	Public	5-7	2120 Twin Bluff Rd	Red Wing	55066	Goodhue County	Red Wing Public School District	No	No	No	Yes	(651) 385-4530	534	29	18.4	36.9%	406 (76.0%)	14 (2.6%)	46 (8.6%)	3 (0.6%)	21 (3.9%)	0 (0.0%)	44 (8.2%)	$11,613							46.3			(n/a)
270032804386	294	Ortonville Secondary	Public	7-12	200 Trojan Dr	Ortonville	56278	Big Stone County	Ortonville Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(320) 839-6183	233	19	12.4	46.8%	208 (89.3%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (6.9%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (3.4%)	$13,951							46.2	39.4	327	33
270021804782	295	Crosslake Community 6-12 Online	Public, Virtual, Charter	6-12	35808 County Road 66	Crosslake	56442	Crow Wing County	Crosslake Community Charter School	Yes	No	Yes	No	(218) 537-3628	270	15	18.2	56.7%	247 (91.5%)	2 (0.7%)	6 (2.2%)	1 (0.4%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (4.4%)	$13,277							46.2			(n/a)
272301001135	296	Mountain Lake Secondary	Public	7-12	450 12th St N	Mountain Lake	56159	Cottonwood County	Mountain Lake Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(507) 427-2325	244	15	15.9	57.0%	143 (58.6%)	3 (1.2%)	69 (28.3%)	21 (8.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (3.3%)	$14,285							45.9	49.9	263	33
270002802341	297	Metro Deaf School	Public, Charter, Alternative	PK, KG-12	1125 Energy Park Drive	Saint Paul	55108	Ramsey County	Metro Deaf School	Yes	No	No	No	(651) 224-3995	124	29	4.2	65.3%	50 (40.3%)	32 (25.8%)	17 (13.7%)	18 (14.5%)	1 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (4.8%)	$72,094							45.6	37.6	341	44
270039104764	298	Discovery Charter Elementary School	Public, Charter	K-8	4100 66th St E	Inver Grove Heights	55076	Dakota County	Discovery Charter School	Yes	No	No	Yes	(651) 444-8464	202	16	13	54.5%	102 (50.5%)	20 (9.9%)	47 (23.3%)	6 (3.0%)	5 (2.5%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (10.9%)	$9,911							45.6	49	266	32
271188005408	299	iQ Academy 6-8	Public, Virtual	6-8	340 Friberg Ave	Fergus Falls	56537	Otter Tail County	Fergus Falls Public School District	No	No	Yes	No	(218) 998-0544	101	0		59.4%	65 (64.4%)	11 (10.9%)	1 (1.0%)	1 (1.0%)	3 (3.0%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (19.8%)								45.4	36.4	351	52
271426000616	300	Hopkins West Middle School	Public	6-8	3830 Baker Rd	Minnetonka	55305	Hennepin County	Hopkins Public School District	No	No	No	No	(952) 988-4401	592	38	15.7	47.1%	286 (48.3%)	183 (30.9%)	41 (6.9%)	24 (4.1%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	57 (9.6%)	$15,664							45.3	52.8	241	59

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for Minnesota

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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 Homeless 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:

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

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