Summary:
Madelia, Minnesota is a small city served by two public schools — Madelia Elementary, which covers prekindergarten through 6th grade with 352 students, and Madelia Secondary, which covers grades 7 through 12 with 294 students — both part of the Madelia Public School District, which ranks 247 out of 458 Minnesota districts (46th percentile, 2 stars). There is no separate middle school or alternative school in the data, and combined enrollment is 646.
The district's overall rating hides two schools moving in opposite directions. Madelia Secondary is the standout: it ranks 149 out of 473 schools (68th percentile, 3 stars) in 2025–2026, up sharply from the 50th percentile and 2 stars the year before. Its all-grade math score climbed from 25.16% to 36.8% in a single year, and its 11th-grade math (40.0% vs. 35.3% state) and End of Course science (41.9% vs. 35.0% state) now beat the state. Madelia Elementary is the opposite story: it ranks 662 out of 869 (24th percentile, 1 star), down from the 32nd percentile two years earlier, with all-grade math falling from 35.79% to 28.9% and science at just 17.0%.
Reading is the steadiest subject, but both schools sit roughly 10 points below the state's 48.6% — elementary at 38.5%, secondary at 38.9%. Science splits by level: the elementary school is well below state (17.0% vs. 25.5%), while the secondary school is close overall (23.4%) but that average hides strong End of Course results and a weak 8th grade (7.8% vs. 16.7%). Despite improving test scores, the secondary school's graduation rate is 77.7% versus 84.9% statewide, and its dropout rate is 17.7% versus 4.2%. Notably, the elementary school has more low-income students (55.4% free/reduced lunch vs. 42.86%) and smaller classes (12.6 vs. 14.2 students per teacher), so class size alone does not explain the performance gap. Weak spots cluster in transition grades — 5th grade at the elementary and 8th grade at the secondary.
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