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)
270297000068	361	Albert Lea Senior High	Public	8-12	2000 Tiger Ln	Albert Lea	56007	Freeborn County	Albert Lea Public School District	No	No	No	No	(507) 379-5340	1,229	75	16.3	55.5%	755 (61.4%)	27 (2.2%)	285 (23.2%)	123 (10.0%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	37 (3.0%)	$13,644							34.4	36.1	354	7
270017703045	362	North Lakes Academy Middle School	Public, Charter	6-8	4576 232nd St N	Forest Lake	55025	Washington County	North Lakes Academy	Yes	No	No	No	(651) 982-2688	148	10	15	34.5%	126 (85.1%)	2 (1.4%)	9 (6.1%)	5 (3.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (4.1%)	$12,961							34.4	55.2	224	138
273351001492	363	South Junior High	Public	6-8	1120 15th Ave S	Saint Cloud	56301	Stearns County	St. Cloud Public School District	No	No	No	Yes	(320) 370-7230	866	52	16.5	67.3%	343 (39.6%)	368 (42.5%)	65 (7.5%)	21 (2.4%)	3 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	66 (7.6%)	$12,481							34.4	32.6	375	12
272808001236	364	Park Rapids Area Century Middle	Public	5-8	501 Helten Ave	Park Rapids	56470	Hubbard County	Park Rapids Public School District	No	No	No	No	(218) 237-6330	442	34	12.8	51.6%	356 (80.5%)	0 (0.0%)	39 (8.8%)	1 (0.2%)	15 (3.4%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (7.0%)	$10,473							34.4	39.5	325	39
270016301310	365	Renville County West Senior High	Public	7-12	301 NE 3rd St	Renville	56284	Renville County	Renville County West Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(320) 329-8368	229	16	14.5	49.8%	155 (67.7%)	1 (0.4%)	67 (29.3%)	3 (1.3%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.9%)	$14,851							34.3	18.6	443	78
270729002639	366	Eagle Ridge Middle School	Public, Magnet	6-8	13955 Glendale Rd	Savage	55378	Scott County	Burnsville-Eagan-Savage Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(952) 707-2800	644	44	14.6	71.3%	197 (30.6%)	153 (23.8%)	183 (28.4%)	49 (7.6%)	6 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	56 (8.7%)	$13,684							34.3	33.8	371	5
272805005486	367	Owatonna Online 7-8	Public, Virtual	7-8	338 E Main St	Owatonna	55060	Steele County	Owatonna Public School District	No	No	Yes	No	(507) 444-8008	29	0		58.6%	9 (31.0%)	18 (62.1%)	1 (3.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (3.4%)								34.1	27.6	399	32
271122000504	368	Edgerton Secondary	Public	6-12	423 1st Ave W	Edgerton	56128	Pipestone County	Edgerton Public School District	No	No	No	No	(507) 442-7881	221	21	10.7	44.8%	154 (69.7%)	7 (3.2%)	49 (22.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (5.0%)	$13,217							34.1	52.4	246	122
270729000297	369	Joseph Nicollet Middle School	Public, Magnet	6-8	400 E 134th St	Burnsville	55337	Dakota County	Burnsville-Eagan-Savage Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(952) 707-2600	748	52	14.3	67.0%	225 (30.1%)	230 (30.7%)	170 (22.7%)	54 (7.2%)	6 (0.8%)	1 (0.1%)	62 (8.3%)	$14,713							33.9	27.1	400	31
270024703308	370	Rochester Math And Science Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	415 16th St SW	Rochester	55902	Olmsted County	Rochester Math And Science Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(507) 252-5995	419	13	32.9	98.8%	0 (0.0%)	417 (99.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$17,173							33.9	37.2	343	27

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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 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:

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

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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