Summary:
Baudette, Minnesota is a small northern Minnesota community served by just two public schools, both in the Lake Of The Woods School District: Lake Of The Woods Elementary, which covers prekindergarten through 5th grade with 234 students, and Lake Of The Woods Secondary, which covers grades 6 through 12 with 228 students — roughly 462 students combined. There is no standalone middle school and no alternative school, so the secondary building serves both middle and high school grades. The district overall ranks 330 of 458 Minnesota districts, at the 28th percentile with 1 star.
Neither school beats Minnesota averages in overall proficiency. In 2025–2026, elementary students were 29.3% proficient in math, 37.4% in reading and only 4.3% in science; secondary students were 32.3% in math, 34.4% in reading and 18.2% in science — all below the state's 44.9%, 48.6% and 25.5%. Elementary science is the sharpest weakness, and 5th grade math and science both sit at 4.3%, while 5th grade reading is a bright spot at 52.2%. At the secondary school, the graduation rate of 89.4% beats the state's 84.9%, but the dropout rate of 7.8% is nearly double the state's 4.2%, and 7th grade reading (25%) and 10th grade reading (20.8%) fall far below state levels.
The two schools are moving in opposite directions. Secondary math rose from 25.38% to 32.3% and science from 15% to 18.2%, and its rank improved from the 17th to the 29th percentile. Elementary math fell from 34.04% to 29.3% and science dropped from 15.15% to 4.3%, with its percentile sliding from 30 to 22 to 20 and its stars falling from 2 to 1. Both schools remain 1 star. Context metrics are similar — free/reduced lunch is 35.47% at the elementary and 33.33% at the secondary, and the student–teacher ratio is 13.5 versus 15.6.
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