Summary:
Northome, Minnesota is a small northern community served by two public schools — Northome Elementary (PK–6) and Northome Secondary (7–12) — both part of the South Koochiching School District, sharing a Highway 1 address and enrolling about 203 students combined.
Comparing the two, Northome Elementary is the stronger performer in the core tested subjects, with 23.6% proficient in math and 38.2% in reading — above the district's 15% and 33%, though still below the state's 44.9% and 48.6%. Northome Secondary is much weaker in those subjects (4.4% math, 25% reading) but stands out for a 100% graduation rate and 0% dropout rate in 2024–2025, well above the state's 84.9% and 4.2%. Science splits between them: the elementary school is very low at 9.1%, below both district and state, while the secondary school is comparatively stronger at 19.4%, above the district and close to the state.
Parents should know that math is the biggest weakness in both schools, and the secondary school had 0% proficiency in both 8th- and 11th-grade math. Both schools declined in all three tested subjects from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, with the largest drops in elementary science and secondary math. The elementary school fell from 2 stars to 1 star and from the 31st to the 19th percentile, while the secondary school improved from the 15th to the 26th percentile but remains a 1-star school. Small enrollment and high free/reduced lunch rates (68.63% and 54.46%) provide important context. Note that the secondary school's 7th-grade math and reading scores are suppressed by the state, so those figures are unknown rather than zero.
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