Best Public Schools in Albert Lea, MN

Summary:

The city of Albert Lea, Minnesota is home to 8 schools, including 5 elementary schools, 1 middle school, and 2 high schools. The schools in this area serve a diverse student population and face challenges related to high poverty levels, with many schools having over 60% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch.

Among the standout schools in Albert Lea are Lakeview Elementary and Halverson Elementary, which have the highest proficiency rates on the MCA-III Math and Reading tests across multiple grade levels. In contrast, the middle school (Southwest Middle) and high schools (Albert Lea Senior High and Albert Lea Area Learning Center) generally perform below state averages, suggesting a need for improvement in these higher grade levels.

Despite the challenges faced by the Albert Lea Public School District, the data reveals that high performance is possible, as demonstrated by the success of Lakeview and Halverson Elementary. Understanding the practices and strategies employed at these top-performing schools could provide valuable insights for improving outcomes across the district and addressing the disparities in student achievement.

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				MCA-III Math (2025)								MCA-III Reading (2025)								Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	MCA-III Math 3rd Grade	MCA-III Math 4th Grade	MCA-III Math 5th Grade	MCA-III Math 6th Grade	MCA-III Math 7th Grade	MCA-III Math 8th Grade	MCA-III Math 11th Grade	MCA-III Math All Grades	MCA-III Reading 3rd Grade	MCA-III Reading 4th Grade	MCA-III Reading 5th Grade	MCA-III Reading 6th Grade	MCA-III Reading 7th Grade	MCA-III Reading 8th Grade	MCA-III Reading 10th Grade	MCA-III Reading All Grades	Total
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	1,196	74	16.1	50.7%	704 (58.9%)	28 (2.3%)	284 (23.7%)	133 (11.1%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	45 (3.8%)	50.8	252^nd of 450 public high schools	44.0%		42.5	300^th of 480 public high schools	37.5%	48						24.4	23.1	23.8						34.2	50.3	41.8	$13,644
Halverson Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	707 E 10th St	Albert Lea	56007	Freeborn County	Albert Lea Public School District	No	No	No	Yes	(507) 379-4900	360	24	14.9	69.7%	170 (47.2%)	11 (3.1%)	117 (32.5%)	47 (13.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	14 (3.9%)	39	580^th of 872 public elementary schools	33.5%		47.4	524^th of 881 public elementary schools	40.5%	56	58.3	50.0	26.9					44.5	41.7	19.6	51.9					38.4	$15,829
Hawthorne Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1000 E Hawthorne	Albert Lea	56007	Freeborn County	Albert Lea Public School District	No	No	No	Yes	(507) 379-4960	400	29	13.7	63.0%	195 (48.8%)	19 (4.8%)	81 (20.3%)	79 (19.8%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (6.3%)	19.2	717^th of 872 public elementary schools	17.8%		18.8	731^st of 881 public elementary schools	17.0%	14	43.1	32.7	7.7					26.7	32.2	22.5	39.4					32.2	$12,375
Lakeview Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	902 Abbott St	Albert Lea	56007	Freeborn County	Albert Lea Public School District	No	No	No	Yes	(507) 379-5020	400	28	14.2	52.3%	240 (60.0%)	8 (2.0%)	105 (26.3%)	25 (6.3%)	6 (1.5%)	2 (0.5%)	14 (3.5%)	46.3	508^th of 872 public elementary schools	41.7%		54.9	436^th of 881 public elementary schools	50.5%	72	63.0	48.0	31.9					47.7	43.8	43.8	43.7					43.8	$14,996
Sibley Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1501 W Front St	Albert Lea	56007	Freeborn County	Albert Lea Public School District	No	No	No	Yes	(507) 379-5080	275	23	11.9	66.5%	143 (52.0%)	11 (4.0%)	55 (20.0%)	54 (19.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (4.4%)	21.5	705^th of 872 public elementary schools	19.2%		29.9	655^th of 881 public elementary schools	25.7%	50	31.0	24.3	33.3					29.8	27.3	23.7	45.2					32.3	$11,409
Southwest Middle	Public	6-7	1601 W Front St	Albert Lea	56007	Freeborn County	Albert Lea Public School District	No	No	No	No	(507) 379-5240	486	34	14.3	58.2%	258 (53.1%)	19 (3.9%)	130 (26.7%)	59 (12.1%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (3.7%)	22.3	421^st of 519 public middle schools	18.9%		29.5	409^th of 545 public middle schools	25.0%	12				15.1	20.3			17.6				40.1	27.4			34.0	$13,277
Albert Lea Area Learning Center	Public	6-12	211 W Richway Dr	Albert Lea	56007	Freeborn County	Albert Lea Public School District	No	No	No	No	(507) 379-4800	113	5	24.5	70.8%	56 (49.6%)	2 (1.8%)	44 (38.9%)	3 (2.7%)	1 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (6.2%)								(n/a)							0.0	0.0									$14,035
Albert Lea Secondary Online Academy	Public, Virtual	6-12	211 W Richway Dr	Albert Lea	56007	Freeborn County	Albert Lea Public School District	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(507) 379-4800	37	0		75.7%	19 (51.4%)	1 (2.7%)	15 (40.5%)	1 (2.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (2.7%)								(n/a)

Cities Near Albert Lea

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Glenville	7.02 mi	3	324^th
Alden	10.26 mi	5	162^nd
Ellendale	15.69 mi	1	277^th
New Richland	17.77 mi	1	315^th
Austin	18.51 mi	17	429^th

See the top MN Minnesota cities

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.