Summary:
Badger, Minnesota is a small rural community served by two public schools, both part of the Badger Public School District: Badger Elementary, serving grades PK–6 with 124 students, and Badger Secondary, serving grades 7–12 with 99 students. Combined enrollment is 223 students, and the two schools share one campus at 110 Carpenter Ave. The district is ranked 161 of 458 in Minnesota, placing it in the 65th percentile with 3 stars — higher than either school's latest individual ranking. Both schools serve majority economically disadvantaged populations (58.06% elementary, 54.55% secondary) and have low student-teacher ratios (12.4 and 10.3), a reflection of the small-scale setting.
Between the two, Badger Secondary ranks higher than Badger Elementary. In 2025–2026 the secondary school placed 188 of 473 (60th percentile, 3 stars), while the elementary placed 468 of 869 (46th percentile, 2 stars). Both schools and the district outperform the state in reading (52.2% elementary, 53.2% secondary, 52.6% district vs. 48.6% state) and in science (33.3%, 28.0%, and 30.2% vs. 25.5% state), but all fall below the state in math (33.3% and 39.2% vs. 44.9%). Trends differ: the secondary school has slipped from the 80th percentile in 2023–2024 to the 60th, while the elementary school improved from the 38th percentile in 2024–2025 to the 46th.
Two bright spots and two concerns stand out. The secondary school's 8th graders scored well above state in math (70.0% vs. 42.3%) and reading (80.0% vs. 50.0%), and its graduation rate is 90.0% versus the state's 84.9%. At the elementary school, math falls sharply after 3rd grade — from 57.1% in 3rd grade to 30.0% in 4th, 22.2% in 5th, and 20.0% in 6th. The secondary school also reports a 10.0% dropout rate, more than double the state's 4.2%. With only 223 students district-wide, these figures can swing more sharply year to year than in larger districts.
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