Summary:
Park Rapids, Minnesota has six schools serving about 1,461 students in grades PK–12, split between the Park Rapids Public School District (five schools) and Heartland Lakes Community School (one school). Enrollment is heavily concentrated: Park Rapids Area Century Elementary (861 students, PK–6) and Park Rapids Area High School (420 students, 7–12) together enroll roughly 87.7% of students. The remaining four — Heartland Lakes Elementary, Headwaters Educ Learning Program, Century School within a School, and Park Rapids Virtual Academy High — total about 180 students.
Among the large schools, Century Elementary posts the strongest results: 2025–26 all-grade math 49.2 and reading 45.4, above the district (38.8 and 41.4) and above the state in math (44.9). Its early grades are notably strong — 3rd grade math 69.9 versus state 57.9 — but 5th and 6th grade reading fall well below state. Park Rapids High trails the state in math (25.2 vs. 44.9) and reading (35.5 vs. 48.6), with wide gaps in 8th grade math (15.5 vs. 42.3) and 10th grade reading (26.1 vs. 42.5); its graduation rate is 81.3 versus 84.9 statewide. Heartland Lakes Elementary also falls below state in math (24.4) and reading (31.7).
Science is a district-wide weak spot: where reported in 2025–26, proficiency is 14.0 at Century Elementary and 16.8 at Park Rapids High against a state figure of 25.5. Two small programs show extreme outcomes — Century School within a School reports 0.0 math and science and 6.9 reading with bottom-percentile rankings, while Headwaters Educ Learning Program has a 33.3 graduation rate and 13.3 dropout rate. Because these enrollments are tiny and many scores are suppressed, those results should be read with caution. Rank trends also show recent declines for both large schools.
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