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)
274191003674	151	Watertown-Mayer Elementary School	Public	K-4	500 Paul Ave	Watertown	55388	Carver County	Watertown-Mayer Public School District	No	No	No	Yes	(952) 955-0300	528	34	15.7	36.4%	480 (90.9%)	5 (0.9%)	21 (4.0%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (3.6%)	$10,255							79.1	76.9	181	30
273006001278	152	Westwood Elementary	Public	K-5	5370 Westwood Dr	Prior Lake	55372	Scott County	Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools	No	No	No	No	(952) 226-0400	519	31	16.9	25.0%	386 (74.4%)	27 (5.2%)	32 (6.2%)	35 (6.7%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	37 (7.1%)	$10,684							79	79.5	145	7
272895001257	153	Pine Island Elementary	Public	PK, KG-4	8749 County Road 5	Pine Island	55963	Goodhue County	Pine Island Public School District	No	No	No	No	(507) 356-8581	602	36	16.5	21.3%	544 (90.4%)	12 (2.0%)	23 (3.8%)	5 (0.8%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.5%)	14 (2.3%)	$9,543							78.9	80.3	136	17
274227002202	154	Mendota Elementary	Public	PK, KG-4	1979 Summit Ln	Mendota Heights	55118	Dakota County	West St. Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan	No	No	No	No	(651) 403-8000	392	31	12.4	21.2%	285 (72.7%)	28 (7.1%)	33 (8.4%)	13 (3.3%)	6 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (6.9%)	$13,279							78.9	92.2	19	135
271188000574	155	Cleveland Elementary	Public	2-4	919 Northern Ave	Fergus Falls	56537	Otter Tail County	Fergus Falls Public School District	No	No	No	Yes	(218) 998-0544	369	24	15.5	47.2%	320 (86.7%)	8 (2.2%)	11 (3.0%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.3%)	26 (7.0%)	$9,545							78.8	80.5	132	23
271227000593	156	Columbus Elementary	Public	PK, KG-6	17345 Notre Dame St	Forest Lake	55025	Washington County	Forest Lake Public School District	No	No	No	No	(651) 982-8900	432	26	16.9	22.9%	348 (80.6%)	4 (0.9%)	14 (3.2%)	52 (12.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (3.0%)	$11,912							78.4	71.8	230	74
271778002273	157	Lake Marion Elementary	Public	K-5	19875 Dodd Blvd	Lakeville	55044	Dakota County	Lakeville Area Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(952) 232-2700	751	52	14.5	26.8%	546 (72.7%)	66 (8.8%)	52 (6.9%)	23 (3.1%)	3 (0.4%)	2 (0.3%)	59 (7.9%)	$12,417							78.3	84.7	95	62
271778000815	158	Kennedy Elementary	Public	K-5	21240 Holyoke Ave	Lakeville	55044	Dakota County	Lakeville Area Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(952) 232-2800	612	43	14.3	22.9%	475 (77.6%)	34 (5.6%)	37 (6.0%)	34 (5.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	31 (5.1%)	$13,413							78.2	68.5	271	113
274216001763	159	Sunset Hill Elementary	Public	K-5	13005 Sunset Tr	Plymouth	55441	Hennepin County	Wayzata Public School District	No	No	No	Yes	(763) 745-5900	670	43	15.4	24.5%	428 (63.9%)	84 (12.5%)	35 (5.2%)	69 (10.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	52 (7.8%)	$13,687							78.1	84.8	92	67
271778002436	160	Lakeview Elementary	Public	K-5	20500 Jacquard Ave	Lakeville	55044	Dakota County	Lakeville Area Schools	No	No	No	No	(952) 232-2600	521	38	13.6	21.3%	394 (75.6%)	44 (8.4%)	33 (6.3%)	18 (3.5%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (6.0%)	$12,452							78	82.4	113	47

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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

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.