North Branch Area High School

Summary:

North Branch Area High School is a public high school serving 781 students in grades 9-12 in North Branch, Minnesota, which is part of the North Branch Area Public Schools district.

The school faces several challenges, including a predominantly white student population (85.15% compared to the state average of 49.85%), consistently underperforming academic results on standardized tests like the MCA-III exams (only 14.18% of 11th-graders were proficient in Math versus the state average of 34.99%), and fluctuating graduation rates ranging from 82.7% to 88.5% in recent years. Additionally, the school has seen a significant increase in the percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, from 13.45% to 31.75%, indicating a growing population of students from low-income families. Compared to nearby schools like Chisago Lakes Senior High, North Branch Area High School generally underperforms on academic measures.

The school's declining statewide ranking, from 131st out of 489 Minnesota high schools in 2016-2017 to 349th out of 480 in 2023-2024, suggests a relative decline in performance compared to other schools in the state. The school also faces performance disparities among different student subgroups, with Hispanic students ranking 16th out of 145 Minnesota high schools in Math, while Asian and White students ranked much lower. The nearby Distance Learning Academy Secondary, a virtual school in the same district, has also struggled academically, with lower test scores and graduation rates than North Branch Area High School.


Detail:

Public 9-12

 38175 Grand Ave
       North Branch, MN  55056-0370


(651) 674-1500

District: North Branch Area Public Schools

SchoolDigger Rank:
349th of 480 Minnesota High Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures:  $12,321 Help


Feeder schools for North Branch Area High School:

Elementary:    Sunrise River Elementary School
Middle:    North Branch Area Middle School

Student/teacher ratio:  21.5 Help
Number of students:  781

Racial breakdown:

White:
85.1%
Asian:
5.4%
Hispanic:
4.6%
more

Free/discounted lunch recipients:  31.8% Help


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Performance Trends
Help
Compare Details North Branch Area High School ranks worse than 72.7% of high schools in Minnesota. (See more...)
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Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 31.49. (See more...)
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The Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate (ACGR) measures the percentage of North Branch Area High School freshmen who graduate within four years, adjusting for students who transfer in or out.
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The high school dropout rate measures the percentage of students who do not complete their high school education.
Student Body
Help
Compare Details North Branch Area High School has the largest high school student body size in the North Branch Area Public Schools District. Racial makeup is: White (85.1%), Asian (5.4%), Hispanic (4.6%). (See more...)
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Compare Details 31.8% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. This is the lowest percentage in the North Branch Area Public Schools District. (See more...)
Teachers
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Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at North Branch Area High School is 21.5. 1 high schools in the North Branch Area Public Schools District have better student/teacher ratios. (See more...)
Help
Compare North Branch Area High School employs 36.2 full-time teachers.
Finance
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Compare Details The average total spent per student at North Branch Area High School is $12,321, which is the highest among 3 high schools in the North Branch Area Public Schools District!
Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

North Branch Area High School:

SchoolDigger ranks North Branch Area High School 349th of 480 Minnesota public high schools. (See North Branch Area High School in the ranking list.)

High School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:


Special Education students:
Low Socio Economic Status students:
Female students:
Male students:
Asian students:
Hispanic students:
White students:




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Rank History for North Branch Area High School

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Rank History for all students at North Branch Area High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools MN State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2004 59.81 264th 433 39.0%
2005 55.53 305th 452 32.5%
2006 46.05 306th 450 32.0%
2007 57.47 241st 463 47.9%
2008 60.62 229th 460 50.2%
2009 66.52 97th 234 58.5%
2010 79.28 64th 540 88.1%
2011 75.74 98th 545 82.0%
2012 73.02 140th 539 74.0%
2013 75.19 96th 534 82.0%
2014 62.87 206th 483 57.3%
2015 63.07 207th 504 58.9%
2016 67.34 171st 489 65.0%
2017 73.73 131st 489 73.2%
2018 55.16 263rd 494 46.8%
2019 46.47 300th 492 39.0%
2021 42.24 281st 428 34.3%
2022 58.77 210th 472 55.5%
2023 29.49 364th 476 23.5%
2024 31.49 349th 480 27.3%
See the entire list of Minnesota High School Rankings!

Rank History for Special Education students at North Branch Area High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools MN State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 43.95 115th 195 41.0%
2019 50.63 105th 220 52.3%
2021 13.42 162nd 173 6.4%
2022 26.27 178th 214 16.8%
2023 41.72 132nd 216 38.9%
2024 10.37 210th 221 5.0%
See the entire list of Best Minnesota High Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at North Branch Area High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools MN State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 53.22 187th 374 50.0%
2019 28.31 281st 370 24.1%
2021 41.43 171st 270 36.7%
2022 49.00 159th 312 49.0%
2023 27.96 303rd 393 22.9%
2024 18.23 346th 389 11.1%
See the entire list of Best Minnesota High Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at North Branch Area High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools MN State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 50.51 233rd 395 41.0%
2019 38.73 277th 401 30.9%
2021 42.50 225th 339 33.6%
2022 55.58 191st 388 50.8%
2023 31.32 302nd 396 23.7%
2024 37.97 272nd 403 32.5%
See the entire list of Best Minnesota High Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Male students at North Branch Area High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools MN State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 43.80 266th 398 33.2%
2019 38.30 285th 411 30.7%
2021 28.72 286th 351 18.5%
2022 50.68 210th 403 47.9%
2023 19.35 344th 398 13.6%
2024 17.49 356th 405 12.1%
See the entire list of Best Minnesota High Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for Asian students at North Branch Area High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools MN State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2022 5.35 67th 68 1.5%
2023 10.84 70th 71 1.4%
2024 15.63 69th 78 11.5%
See the entire list of Best Minnesota High Schools for Asian Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at North Branch Area High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools MN State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2022 58.32 48th 135 64.4%
2024 82.82 16th 145 89.0%
See the entire list of Best Minnesota High Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for White students at North Branch Area High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools MN State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 39.63 299th 414 27.8%
2019 28.16 330th 412 19.9%
2021 30.49 287th 364 21.2%
2022 48.68 232nd 401 42.1%
2023 15.24 368th 398 7.5%
2024 15.79 357th 402 11.2%
See the entire list of Best Minnesota High Schools for White Students!

Data source: test scores: Minnesota Department of Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

North Branch Area High School Test Scores
Tests: 
  
Grades: 
  
Years: 
  
Group by: 
District Scores:
State Scores:    
  
Subgroup: 






Data source: Minnesota Department of Education

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Enrollment information for North Branch Area High School

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Year White African American Asian Hispanic American Indian Pacific Islander Two or More Races Not Specified Total
1988 733 5 3 0 3 n/a n/a 0 744
1989 693 3 3 0 1 n/a n/a 0 700
1990 670 3 3 0 1 n/a n/a 0 677
1991 664 1 2 0 1 n/a n/a 0 668
1992 696 1 3 0 1 n/a n/a 0 701
1993 715 0 2 1 2 n/a n/a 0 720
1994 731 0 3 1 2 n/a n/a 0 737
1995 661 2 5 4 1 n/a n/a 0 673
1996 661 2 5 4 1 n/a n/a 0 673
1997 844 2 6 6 1 n/a n/a 0 859
1998 867 5 17 8 2 n/a n/a 0 899
1999 919 4 13 6 4 n/a n/a 0 946
2000 935 5 16 9 2 n/a n/a 0 967
2001 1046 6 16 8 2 n/a n/a 0 1078
2002 1039 6 16 9 10 n/a n/a 0 1080
2003 1039 6 16 9 10 n/a n/a 0 1080
2004 1084 3 23 11 8 n/a n/a 0 1129
2005 1079 5 25 21 10 n/a n/a 0 1140
2006 1134 6 36 20 7 n/a n/a 0 1203
2007 1118 11 28 22 9 n/a n/a 0 1188
2008 1137 13 33 16 12 n/a n/a 0 1211
2009 1075 20 21 10 9 n/a n/a 0 1135
2010 1051 8 23 11 12 n/a n/a 0 1105
2011 990 12 23 14 8 0 0 0 1047
2012 951 3 17 16 6 0 3 0 996
2013 938 3 11 17 5 0 3 0 977
2014 926 8 8 19 8 1 2 0 972
2015 927 7 10 18 8 0 5 0 975
2016 781 8 7 15 4 1 9 0 825
2017 792 13 14 18 3 0 8 0 848
2018 830 13 12 20 7 0 11 0 893
2019 774 14 18 22 7 0 14 0 849
2020 760 10 21 29 9 0 17 0 846
2021 605 9 13 23 3 0 18 0 671
2022 725 8 24 32 3 0 26 0 818
2023 665 11 42 36 1 0 26 0 781

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at North Branch Area High School

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 744 46.2 16.1 11.3
1989 700 37.9 18.4 10.1
1990 677 35.4 19.1 8.9
1991 668 31.8 21.0 10.3
1992 701 35.5 19.7 12.1
1993 720 39.0 18.5 12.4
1994 737 37.7 19.5 12.5
1995 673 40.2 16.7 13.5
1996 673 40.2 16.7 13.5
1997 859 42.1 20.4 9.5
1998 899 n/a 0.0 9.1
1999 946 54.1 17.5 8.2
2000 967 48.1 20.1 15.8
2001 1078 52.7 20.5 13.1
2002 1080 58.3 18.5 15
2003 1080 58.3 18.5 15
2004 1129 55.8 20.2 17.2
2005 1140 52.8 21.6 16.1
2006 1203 57.5 20.9 17.2
2007 1188 59.0 20.1 21.9
2008 1211 60.8 19.9 19
2009 1135 52.5 21.6 21.9
2010 1105 46.7 23.6 26.4
2011 1047 46.7 22.3 24.5
2012 996 44.0 22.6 27.2
2013 977 43.9 22.2 26.1
2014 972 43.2 22.4 25.7
2015 975 49.0 19.8 22.9
2016 825 53.0 15.5 21.3
2017 848 47.9 17.6 21.3
2018 893 45.5 19.5 21.5
2019 849 41.3 20.5 24
2020 846 34.9 24.2 24.7
2021 671 35.8 18.7 14.3
2022 818 35.0 23.3 13.4
2023 781 36.2 21.5 31.8

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio North Branch Area High School

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Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 744 46.2 16.1 11.3
1989 700 37.9 18.4 10.1
1990 677 35.4 19.1 8.9
1991 668 31.8 21.0 10.3
1992 701 35.5 19.7 12.1
1993 720 39.0 18.5 12.4
1994 737 37.7 19.5 12.5
1995 673 40.2 16.7 13.5
1996 673 40.2 16.7 13.5
1997 859 42.1 20.4 9.5
1998 899 n/a 0.0 9.1
1999 946 54.1 17.5 8.2
2000 967 48.1 20.1 15.8
2001 1078 52.7 20.5 13.1
2002 1080 58.3 18.5 15
2003 1080 58.3 18.5 15
2004 1129 55.8 20.2 17.2
2005 1140 52.8 21.6 16.1
2006 1203 57.5 20.9 17.2
2007 1188 59.0 20.1 21.9
2008 1211 60.8 19.9 19
2009 1135 52.5 21.6 21.9
2010 1105 46.7 23.6 26.4
2011 1047 46.7 22.3 24.5
2012 996 44.0 22.6 27.2
2013 977 43.9 22.2 26.1
2014 972 43.2 22.4 25.7
2015 975 49.0 19.8 22.9
2016 825 53.0 15.5 21.3
2017 848 47.9 17.6 21.3
2018 893 45.5 19.5 21.5
2019 849 41.3 20.5 24
2020 846 34.9 24.2 24.7
2021 671 35.8 18.7 14.3
2022 818 35.0 23.3 13.4
2023 781 36.2 21.5 31.8

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.
Finances

Per Pupil Expenditures for North Branch Area High School

Help

YearTotal Expenditures Per Pupil
2019 $12,321

Data source: Minnesota Department of Education
Pre and Post Pandemic Data

Impact of COVID-19 on North Branch Area High School

The coronavirus has had a profound impact on education in America. Learning shifted online overnight, attendance numbers dwindled, and enrollment decreased. SchoolDigger.com is making it easier for you to better assess how COVID-19 has impacted your school. Through the collection of pre-pandemic (2019) and current data, SchoolDigger.com is sharing test scores, enrollment numbers and school demographics from schools across the country – and we make it easy to see how impacted schools compare locally and statewide.

Rankings

Rank
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Rank
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Ranks 300th of 492 High schoolsRanks 364th of 476 High schools
 15.5%

Test Scores

% proficient
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
% proficient
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
10th Grade Reading (North Branch Area High School)51.133.7
 17.4%
   10th Grade Reading (North Branch Area Public Schools)51.332.2
 19.1%
   10th Grade Reading (Minnesota)60.451.7
 8.7%
11th Grade Math (North Branch Area High School)30.320.8
 9.6%
   11th Grade Math (North Branch Area Public Schools)30.418
 12.3%
   11th Grade Math (Minnesota)4536
 9%
End of Course Science (North Branch Area High School)45.926
 19.8%
   End of Course Science (North Branch Area Public Schools)46.625.3
 21.3%
   End of Course Science (Minnesota)54.441.8
 12.5%

Student Body

Number of students
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Number of students
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Total Students849781
 8%
African American1411
 21.4%
American Indian71
 85.7%
Asian1842
 133.3%
Hispanic2236
 63.6%
Pacific Islander00
White774665
 14.1%
Two or More Races1426
 85.7%
% Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients24%31.8%
 7.7%


Schools Near North Branch Area High School









Frequently Asked Questions about North Branch Area High School

In the 2022-23 school year, 781 students attended North Branch Area High School.

North Branch Area High School is fed by the following schools:

Elementary : Sunrise River Elementary School
Middle : North Branch Area Middle School

North Branch Area High School ranks 349th of 480 Minnesota high schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 1 star out of 5.

Students at North Branch Area High School are 85% White, 5% Asian, 5% Hispanic, 3% Two or more races, 1% African American.


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

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.





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