Petersburg Borough School District

The Petersburg Borough School District is a small southeastern Alaska district with three traditional schools—Rae C. Stedman Elementary (PK–5, 206 students), Mitkof Middle School (6–8, 114 students), and Petersburg High School (9–12, 144 students)—enrolling 464 students total. The district ranks 7th of 23 Alaska districts and exceeds state averages in all three core subjects. Since each grade level is served by just one school, school results essentially mirror district results.

Each school has a distinct academic personality. Mitkof Middle School is the strongest all-around performer, exceeding state averages in every subject; its 8th-grade science proficiency of 67.57% sits an extraordinary 32.4 points above the state average, and grades 7 and 8 ELA run about 20 points above state averages. Petersburg High School is the district's highest-ranked school (17th of 62 high schools, 4 stars) and leads the district in ELA at 56.25%, with a strong 97.3% graduation rate—but only 21.88% of its 9th graders are proficient in math, the district's weakest subject result. Rae C. Stedman Elementary is the math leader at 49.53% proficiency (3rd grade: 60.53%, nearly 27 points above the state), yet its ELA trails state averages in grades 4 and 5, and its state ranking has slipped for three straight years to the 43rd percentile with a 2-star rating.

Looking across the pipeline, elementary literacy is the district's clearest weakness, yet ELA performance strengthens dramatically in middle and high school. Mathematics shows the opposite pattern—strong at elementary and 8th-grade levels (53.85% proficiency) but falling sharply to 21.88% by 9th grade, a transition worth investigating. Notably, Mitkof Middle School has the highest free/reduced-price lunch rate (66.67%) yet posts the strongest results, indicating school-level factors may outweigh economic disadvantage. Finally, with only 114–206 students per school and grade cohorts often below 40, a handful of students can shift proficiency rates several points; parents should weigh longer-term trends more heavily than any single-year change.