Summary:
The city of Benson, Minnesota has four schools — one elementary school serving PK–5 and three secondary schools serving grades 6–12 or 7–12 — all part of the Benson Public School District, which ranks 309th of 458 districts in the state, in the 33rd percentile with 2 stars. Total listed enrollment is 760 students: 391 at the elementary level and 369 across the three secondary schools.
Northside Elementary is the academic standout. Its 2025–2026 all-grade math proficiency of 51.1% beats both the district (36.5%) and state (44.9%), and its 3rd-grade math score of 76.1% is more than 18 points above the state. Its reading is also above district levels, and its rank improved from the 37th to the 44th percentile. Its weak spot is science, at 13.5% versus the state's 25.5%. Benson Secondary tells the opposite story: a 97.5% graduation rate and 0.0% dropout rate, well above the state's 84.9% and 4.2%, but proficiency below district and state in math, reading, and science, and a rank drop to the 28th percentile with 1 star. Notably, Northside and Benson Secondary have nearly identical free/reduced lunch rates (38.36% and 38.02%) but very different academic results, though grade-level differences mean this is not a direct comparison.
The two smallest schools have limited data. Heartland Girls Ranch, with 22 students, has the city's highest free/reduced lunch rate (86.36%) and lowest student/teacher ratio (7.7); its 2024–2025 science score of 25.0% was a bright spot, but 2025–2026 reading and science are reported at 0%. Benson Area Learning Center, with 13 students, reports a 100% graduation rate and 0% dropout rate, but its test scores are almost entirely suppressed by the state for privacy, so its academics cannot be judged here. Science remains the clearest district-wide weakness.
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