Best Middle Schools in Perham, MN

Perham, Minnesota is home to a single middle school, Prairie Wind Middle, which serves grades 5–8 to 526 students as part of the Perham-Dent Public School District. Because it is the only middle school in the city, this is a detailed look at one school rather than a comparison among local options. The district itself ranks 74 of 458 in Minnesota — the 84th percentile — and holds a 4-star rating.

Prairie Wind has also earned 4 stars in each of the past three school years, though its statewide standing among middle schools has softened slightly, moving from the 79th percentile (117 of 545) in 2023–24 to the 76th percentile (124 of 519) in 2024–25 and the 72nd percentile (153 of 546) in 2025–26. Reading is the clearest strength: all-grade reading proficiency was 53.9%, above both the district (52.7%) and the state (48.6%). Grade 8 reading reached 59.9%, nearly 10 points above the state, and grade 5 reading was 59.3%. Grade 6 reading is the exception at 48.0%, the only grade-level reading score below the state's 53.4%. Math looks better at the grade level than in the all-grade summary — 43.4% overall, slightly under the state's 44.9%, but above the state in grades 5, 7, and 8.

Science is the relative weak spot, with all-grade proficiency at 19.5% versus the district's 27.7% and the state's 25.5%; grade 8 science was the lowest reported score at 15.7%. One caveat for parents: the school serves only grades 5–8, while district and state all-grade figures may include other grade levels, including high school, so those comparisons are not perfectly even. Year over year, math improved slightly while reading and science dipped a little. For context, 34.22% of students receive free or reduced lunch — roughly one in three — and the student–teacher ratio is 15.8:1. Overall, Prairie Wind Middle is a solid, above-average Minnesota middle school with particular strength in reading.