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)
272897000041	351	Pine River-Backus High School	Public	7-12	810 1st St N	Pine River	56474	Cass County	Pine River-Backus School District	No	No	No	No	(218) 587-4425	377	29	13	61.0%	354 (93.9%)	4 (1.1%)	2 (0.5%)	4 (1.1%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.3%)	10 (2.7%)	$11,954							37.3	43.4	308	43
271827000848	352	Littlefork-Big Falls Secondary	Public	7-12	700 Main St	Littlefork	56653	Koochiching County	Littlefork-Big Falls School District	No	No	No	No	(218) 278-6614	154	10	15.3	41.6%	146 (94.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (3.9%)	$14,981							37	72.1	112	240
270615003005	353	Breckenridge Middle	Public	7-8	710 13th Street N	Breckenridge	56520	Wilkin County	Breckenridge Public School District	No	No	No	No	(218) 643-2694	108	3	31.3	51.9%	86 (79.6%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (12.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (4.6%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (3.7%)	$13,510							36.4	34.5	366	13
270014012829	354	HGA Junior High	Public, Charter	6-7	1381 Marshall Ave	Saint Paul	55104	Ramsey County	Higher Ground Academy	Yes	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(651) 645-1000	0				0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()								36.4			(n/a)
271503000765	355	Inver Grove Heights Middle	Public	6-8	8167 Cahill Ave E	Inver Grove Heights	55076	Dakota County	Inver Grove Heights Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(651) 306-7200	761	44	17.4	58.6%	317 (41.7%)	95 (12.5%)	231 (30.4%)	37 (4.9%)	4 (0.5%)	2 (0.3%)	75 (9.9%)	$12,547							36.4	35	360	5
271806000832	356	Leroy Secondary	Public	6-12	406 W Main St	Le Roy	55951	Mower County	Leroy-Ostrander Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(507) 324-5741	138	11	12.6	31.2%	120 (87.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (8.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (3.6%)	$15,605							36.3	31.3	381	25
270447000199	357	Benson Secondary	Public	6-12	1400 Montana Ave	Benson	56215	Swift County	Benson Public School District	No	No	No	No	(320) 843-2710	353	21	16.8	45.3%	301 (85.3%)	5 (1.4%)	34 (9.6%)	5 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (2.3%)	$15,814							36.3	34.2	369	12
270013002497	358	Blue Earth Area Middle	Public	6-7	315 E 6th St	Blue Earth	56013	Faribault County	Blue Earth Area School District	No	No	No	No	(507) 526-3115	140	13	10.8	52.9%	110 (78.6%)	1 (0.7%)	27 (19.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.4%)	$14,454							36	31.7	379	21
270032404271	359	Cannon River Stem School	Public, Charter	K-8	1800 14th St NE	Faribault	55021	Rice County	Cannon River Stem School	Yes	No	No	Yes	(507) 331-7836	220	21	10.3	62.7%	152 (69.1%)	3 (1.4%)	48 (21.8%)	2 (0.9%)	4 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (5.0%)	$10,834							35.9	44.2	299	60
273360001505	360	St. James Middle/High School	Public	6-12	1001 10th Ave N	Saint James	56081	Watonwan County	St. James Public School District	No	No	No	No	(507) 375-3381	551	37	14.8	59.9%	243 (44.1%)	0 (0.0%)	301 (54.6%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.9%)	$12,737							35.3	33.6	373	13

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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:

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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.