Best Public Schools in Hector, MN

Hector, Minnesota is a small community served by just two schools, both part of the Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart district: Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart Elementary, which serves grades PK–5 with 186 students, and Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart Secondary, which serves grades 6–12 with 245 students. There is no separate middle school and no alternative school, so grades 6–8 are housed inside the secondary building. Combined enrollment is 431 students. The district is ranked 217 of 458 in Minnesota, at the 53rd percentile with 3 stars — but that middle-of-the-road district ranking masks two very different schools.

The Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart Elementary is the academic standout. In 2025–2026 it ranked 258 of 869, at the 70th percentile with 4 stars, after reaching 5 stars and the 92nd–95th percentile in the two prior years. Its all-grade scores beat the state in every subject: math 58.1% vs 44.9%, reading 54.8% vs 48.6%, and science 38.5% vs 25.5%. The Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart Secondary is the opposite story, ranked 345 of 473 at the 27th percentile with 1 star, and below state in every subject — math 26.7%, reading 46.0%, and science 11.9%. Weak spots include 11th grade math at 9.5% and 8th grade science at 3.2%, though 6th grade math and reading and 7th grade reading are at or above state.

Both schools declined from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, with the elementary drop larger in points but still comfortably above state averages. At the secondary school, the 2024–2025 dropout rate was 9.6% versus the state's 4.2%, while the graduation rate of 83.8% was close to the state's 84.9%. Notably, the elementary school has a higher free/reduced lunch rate — 50.54% versus 40.82% — yet outperforms the secondary school, so economic disadvantage alone does not explain the gap. The secondary school also has a higher student-teacher ratio, 14.9 versus 11.4.