Summary:
Moorhead, Minnesota has 10 schools, all in Moorhead Area Public Schools, serving students from elementary through high school plus alternative settings, with about 7,298 students total. The district ranks 215th of 458 in Minnesota (53rd percentile, 3 stars). Enrollment is highly concentrated: Horizon Middle School (2,158 students) and Moorhead High School (2,122) together hold roughly 58.6% of students, while the alternative schools are very small, ranging from 16 to 138 students.
Probstfield Elementary is the clear academic standout: 86th percentile, 4 stars, with 71.8% proficient in math and 62.1% in reading, both far above district and state, and the lowest free/reduced lunch rate at 23.1%. Its reported student/teacher ratio of 41.4 is an extreme outlier versus other elementaries at roughly 13–14, so treat it cautiously. Dorothy Dodds Elementary School improved the most, rising from 33rd to 55th percentile and from 2 to 3 stars. S.G. Reinertsen Elementary is a steady math performer at 55.9%, well above district 38.4%.
The district trails Minnesota in math (38.4% vs 44.9%), reading (45.5% vs 48.6%), and especially science (19.7% vs 25.5%). Moorhead High School has declined from 61st to 44th percentile and 3 to 2 stars, with a 7.8% dropout rate versus the state's 4.2%. Science is weak system-wide, notably Horizon's 8th-grade science at 11.2% versus state 16.7%. Among the alternative settings, West Central Academy-S and Moorhead Alternative Learning Center show low proficiency and high needs, and West Central Academy-N has all scores suppressed, so its results are unknown rather than zero. Overall, Moorhead is a split system: strong elementary math, weaker secondary and alternative outcomes.
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