Summary:
High Schools located in Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted serve grades 9–12 across two schools: Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted Sec. with 411 students and Hlww Alternative Learning Program with 24 students, for a combined high-school enrollment of 435. Both are part of the Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted district, which ranks 269 out of 458 in Minnesota — the 41st percentile, with 2 stars.
The two schools differ sharply in size and profile. The comprehensive high school is about 17 times larger, has a higher student-teacher ratio (18.6 versus 13.0), and a lower free/reduced-lunch rate (24.33% versus 29.17%). Its completion outcomes are strong: a 95.0% graduation rate and 0.9% dropout rate, both better than the state's 84.9% and 4.2% and in line with or above the district. Testing is more mixed — science is a bright spot at 29.5%, above the district's 17.3% and the state's 25.5%, while math (26.9%) and reading (29.4%) trail both district and state. The alternative program reports math proficiency of 10%; its reading and science results are suppressed, and current graduation and dropout figures are not reported. Its last school-level figures, from 2021–22, showed 70% graduation and 20% dropout.
Parents should note that the comprehensive high school's state rank has slipped from the 54th percentile with 3 stars in 2023–24 to the 40th percentile with 2 stars in 2025–26, even as its graduation and dropout numbers remain strong. A large one-year reading swing (56.12% to 29.4%) comes with an exam label change from MCA-III to MCA-IV, so it should be read cautiously. The alternative program's small enrollment makes its percentages volatile and comparisons unreliable. Overall, completion outcomes look better than test-based rankings here.
Thank you for your feedback!