Best Public Schools in Prior Lake, MN

Prior Lake, Minnesota has 7 schools, all part of Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools, which ranks 76th of 458 districts in Minnesota (83rd percentile, 4 stars). The city list includes four elementary schools — WestWood Elementary, Jeffers Pond Elementary, La Ola Del Lago at Grainwood, and Five Hawks Elementary — one middle school, and two alternative high schools; no traditional comprehensive high school appears here. Listed enrollment totals 4,043 students, with Prior Lake-Savage Middle School alone accounting for 2,025 (about 50.1%), elementary schools 1,909 (about 47.2%), and the alternative high schools 109 (about 2.7%).

The academic standouts are Jeffers Pond Elementary (74th of 869, 91st percentile, 5 stars; math 68.6%, reading 67.5%, science 46.4%) and La Ola Del Lago at Grainwood (87th of 869, 90th percentile, 5 stars), which posted the highest reading proficiency in the list at 71.6% and the largest year-over-year gains (reading +7.31, science +11.24 points). Prior Lake-Savage Middle School ranks 59th of 546 (89th percentile, 4 stars) with solid math and reading, but science is only 19.4%, below district and state. WestWood Elementary is above average in all three subjects yet declined in each, while Five Hawks Elementary is the lowest-ranked elementary (68th percentile, 3 stars) with the steepest drops.

A few patterns stand out. Elementary schools average roughly 65% math, 63% reading, and 36% science, above the district (60.3%, 58.7%, 29.0%) and state (44.9%, 48.6%, 25.5%). Science is the weakest subject nearly everywhere, and among elementaries higher free/reduced lunch rates track with lower ranks. The two alternative high schools are tiny (75 and 34 students) with much higher free/reduced lunch rates. Prior Lake-Savage Area Alternative Learning Center reports 0.0% math, 6.7% science, a 70.3% graduation rate, and a 6.2% dropout rate; its reading score is suppressed and should be treated as unknown. Alternative Learning Center Independent Study has a 91.6% graduation rate and 0.0% dropout rate but no test scores, rank, or student-teacher ratio, so its academics cannot be assessed.