Best Public Schools in Austin, MN

Austin, Minnesota is home to 13 schools serving students from elementary through high school, with roughly 5,295 students enrolled across four elementary schools, two middle schools, four high schools, and three alternative settings. Ten of the 13 schools — and 5,174 of the students — belong to Austin Public School District, which ranks 388 of 458 Minnesota districts (15th percentile, 1 star). The remaining schools are in Southern MN Education Consortium or Austin Albert Lea Area Special Educ. The largest school is Austin Senior High with 1,485 students, about 28% of the total, while Reset is the smallest with 11.

Southgate Elementary is the academic standout: its math proficiency of 46.5% is the only result above the state average of 44.9%, and its reading of 44.9% leads the list, though it trails the state's 48.6%. Neveln Elementary is close behind at 44.2% math and 36.2% reading. Both climbed in rank, Southgate from the 26th to 40th percentile and Neveln from the 15th to 29th. Austin Senior High rose from the 25th to 38th percentile, and its science score of 27.7% beats the district's 13.0% and the state's 25.5%, but its math (23.6%) and reading (32.9%) lag. Smec Alternative Learning Center has the strongest graduation picture at 87.1% with a 0.0% dropout rate, though its test scores are suppressed.

Math and reading sit below state averages at nearly every school. Sumner Elementary is the weakest elementary (27.7% math, 22.3% reading), and middle-school science is stark: Ellis Middle at 6.1% and I.J. Holton Intermediate School at 10.1%, against 25.5% statewide. Austin Area Learning Center has the lowest academics (1.3% math, 1.6% reading, 0% science) and a 35.3 student-teacher ratio. Austin Senior High's dropout rate of 11.8% is nearly three times the state's 4.2%. Poverty is widespread, with an average free/reduced lunch rate near 62%, highest at Oakland Education Center (75.00%). Where scores show "—", the state suppressed them for privacy — treat those as unknown, not zero.