Best Public Schools in Sauk Rapids, MN

Sauk Rapids, Minnesota has seven listed schools serving about 4,016 students across elementary, middle and high school grades, and the overwhelming share of that enrollment sits with Sauk Rapids-Rice Public Schools — two elementaries, one middle school and one high school that together account for roughly 97.5% of the city's listed students. The other three schools are small: Alternative Learning Center - Sauk Rapids (59 students, operated by St. Cloud Public School District), Benton-Stearns Education District (24) and Benton Stearns Education 18-22 (17). Data coverage is uneven: the four Sauk Rapids-Rice schools report test scores, rank histories, free/reduced-lunch rates and class sizes, while the smaller programs report far less, and some values are suppressed rather than zero.

Pleasantview Elementary is the strongest standout, with 51.4% all-grades reading proficiency — above the district's 43.8% and the state's 48.6% — and a 62.2% 5th-grade reading score, the highest grade-level reading figure in the list. It also beats the district in math (47.0% vs. 35%), has the lowest student-teacher ratio among the district's regular schools at 13.3, and posts those results despite the highest free/reduced-lunch rate of the four (41.96%). Mississippi Heights Elementary is the math standout at 46.7%, including 59.1% in 3rd-grade math. Sauk Rapids-Rice Senior High stands out for completion rather than test scores: an 88.0% graduation rate and 4.0% dropout rate, both better than the state.

The cautionary patterns matter just as much. Science is the clearest district-wide weak spot — every Sauk Rapids-Rice school trails the state, and Sauk Rapids-Rice Middle School is lowest at 9.9% all-grades (8th grade 9.9% vs. state 16.7%), with math at 27.1% and reading at 40.7%. The Senior High's math (22.2%) and reading (40.4%) are well below state. Rank percentiles have drifted down or sideways, and all four district schools hold 2 stars in 2025-26. The small Benton-Stearns settings report 0% math and reading in 2025-26, with many values suppressed, so conclusions there are limited.