Best Public Schools in Watertown, MN

Watertown, Minnesota has three public schools in the Watertown-Mayer Public School District: Watertown Mayer High for grades 9–12, Watertown-Mayer Elementary School for grades K–4, and Watertown-Mayer Middle for grades 5–8, serving 1,416 students combined. The district ranks 44th of 458 Minnesota districts, in the 90th percentile with 5 stars, while the citywide picture is driven mainly by strong elementary and middle results and a high school with solid outcomes but more mixed academics.

Watertown-Mayer Middle has the strongest overall rank profile: 69th of 546, 87th percentile, 4 stars in 2025–2026, after a 94th-percentile, 5-star year in 2024–2025. Its 2025–2026 reading proficiency is 64.3%, the highest all-grades reading result among the three schools, and math is 58.0%. Watertown-Mayer Elementary School is close behind at 80th percentile with 4 stars, and its math is a standout: 66.5% proficient, well above the district’s 57.1% and the state’s 44.9%. Watertown Mayer High improved to 77th percentile with 4 stars, but its all-grades math is 36.4%, below the district’s 57.1% and the state’s 44.9%; its 11th-grade math is 36.4% vs. the state’s 35.3%, a cleaner comparison.

Watertown Mayer High posts the city’s strongest science at 38.8% vs. the state’s 25.5%, plus a 90.4% graduation rate vs. 84.9% and a 2.3% dropout rate vs. 4.2%. Middle-school science is near the state overall at 25.6%, but hides a split: 5th grade is 42.6% vs. 25.9%, while 8th grade is 11.5% vs. 16.7%. Enrollment and staffing also differ: Watertown Mayer High has 516 students, 22.48% free/reduced lunch, and a 19.1 student-teacher ratio; Watertown-Mayer Elementary School has 482 students, 30.29% free/reduced lunch, and 15.5; Watertown-Mayer Middle has 418 students, 25.6% free/reduced lunch, and 15.5. Year over year, elementary math slipped from 70.3% to 66.5% and middle math from 65.17% to 58.0%, though both remain above state.