Best Public Schools in Delano, MN

Delano, Minnesota is served by three public schools in the Delano Public School District: Delano Elementary (PK–3), Delano Intermediate School (4–6), and Delano High School (7–12), with no alternative schools listed and total enrollment of 2,457 students. The largest is Delano High School, with 1,158 students, more than the other two schools combined. Data years vary: test scores span 2024–2026, while lunch, ratios, and graduation data are from 2024–2025.

For current academics, Delano Intermediate School stands out in science and reading: science is 52.0% in 2025–2026, 13.4 points above the district (38.6%) and 26.5 points above the state (25.5%), while reading is 74.5%, above the district (69.6%) and state (48.6%). Delano Elementary is the math standout at 80.2%, 14.0 points above the district (66.2%) and 35.3 points above the state (44.9%), though reading is 62.1%, below the district. Delano High School has strong outcomes—98.9% graduation and 0.5% dropout, plus a rank of 31st of 473 with 5 stars—but science is uneven: all-grade science is 31.5%, below the district’s 38.6%; 8th-grade science is 16.0%, slightly below the state’s 16.7%; End of Course science is 45.4%, above the state’s 35%. The high school also has the highest student/teacher ratio, 22.1, versus 15.5 and 16.6.

Across the district, every school’s all-grade proficiency is above the state in every subject where data is shown. Year over year, Delano Elementary had the largest math gain (+8.18 points), Delano Intermediate School had the largest science gain (+9.87 points), and Delano High School declined in all three subjects, most notably science (-4.72 points). Free/reduced lunch is low, ranging from 11.14% at the high school to 14.11% at the elementary, and high school math proficiency declines by grade: 70.1% in 7th, 57.4% in 8th, and 50.0% in 11th. One caveat: current rankings are provided for the high school; elementary and intermediate rankings shown are older, from 2015–2016 through 2017–2018.