Summary:
Westbrook-Walnut Grove Schools is a small Minnesota district serving about 497 students across two schools — one PK–6 elementary and one 7–12 secondary — with no middle school or alternative school listed, and it ranks 231 of 458 districts statewide (50th percentile, 2 stars).
Walnut Grove Elementary enrolls 299 students and is the district's math standout, with 53.3% proficient in math versus 48.0% for the district and 44.9% for the state; 5th grade reaches 60.0% compared with 41.9% statewide. Its reading and science are weaker — 40.7% reading and 23.3% science, both below state — and it slid from 59th percentile with 3 stars in 2024–2025 to 48th percentile with 2 stars in 2025–2026. Westbrook-Walnut Grove Secondary enrolls 198 students and shines in completion: a 95.8% graduation rate and 0.0% dropout rate, far ahead of the state's 84.9% and 4.2%. Its 8th graders beat the state in math (56.3% vs. 42.3%), reading (53.1% vs. 50.0%), and science (19.4% vs. 16.7%), but overall scores trail state — 40.2% math, 33.3% reading, 21.0% science — with weak spots in 7th- and 10th-grade reading and 11th-grade math.
Reading is the district's clearest challenge: at 37.8% it sits 10.8 points below the state's 48.6%, and it fell from 44.53% a year earlier while state reading dipped only about a point. Science is below state at both schools, including a 22.6% End of Course result versus 35.0% statewide. The two schools are similar in size and staffing — student-teacher ratios of 12.4 and 11.7 — though the secondary school has a higher free/reduced lunch rate (56.06% vs. 50.5%). In short, families will find a math-strong elementary, a secondary school with excellent completion outcomes and a promising 8th-grade cohort, and a district-wide reading gap worth watching.
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