Summary:
Cook, Minnesota has just one elementary school: North Woods Elementary, which serves 234 students in grades PK–6 as part of the St. Louis County School District. Because it is the only elementary school in the city, there is no local peer school to compare it against — the most useful benchmarks are the district and the state of Minnesota as a whole.
North Woods Elementary's results are mixed. Math is its relative bright spot: 35.7% of all tested students were proficient, above the district's 31.7% but below the state's 44.9%. The school also outperforms the district in 4th-grade math (39.3% vs. 37.9%) and 5th-grade math (32.4% vs. 31.2%). Reading is the clearest concern. All-grade reading proficiency fell from 46.55% in 2024–25 to 36.5% in 2025–26, dropping the school below the district's 40.8% and well below the state's 48.6%; every tested reading grade sits below both. Science is very low at 14.7%, compared with 17.1% in the district and 25.5% statewide. No grade-level subject reaches the state average. The closest gaps are 3rd-grade reading (43.3% vs. 46.8%) and 3rd-grade math (53.3% vs. 57.9%).
The school's statewide rank has slid from the 46th percentile in 2023–24 to 39th in 2024–25 and 27th in 2025–26, with its star rating falling from 2 stars to 1; the sharp reading decline is the most likely driver of that trend. For context, 50% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch and the student-teacher ratio is 12.2:1, or roughly 19 teachers for the building. With only 234 students spread across PK–6, grade-level percentages rest on small groups of children, so year-to-year swings can be volatile. Families should weigh the school's comparative strength in math against its real weaknesses in reading and science.
Thank you for your feedback!