Summary:
Great River School has one elementary school, Great River Elementary School in Saint Paul, MN, serving grades 1–6 with 383 students. The district is ranked 106 out of 458 Minnesota districts, placing it in the 77th percentile with 4 stars. The elementary school’s own recent rank tells a different story: it slipped from the 60th percentile and 3 stars in 2023–2024 to the 45th percentile and 2 stars in 2025–2026. In 2024–2025, 17.75% of students received free or reduced lunch, and the student–teacher ratio was 21.5.
Reading is the school’s clearest strength, especially in the upper grades. In 2025–2026, 6th grade reading was 77.4% proficient versus 53.4% statewide, a 24.0-point advantage. Fifth grade reading was 58.1% versus 54.5%, and 4th grade reading was 51.6% versus 48.8%. All-grades reading was 56.6% versus 48.6% statewide. However, 3rd grade reading was below the state at 40.0% versus 46.8%. Math is the biggest concern: all-grades math was 31.5% versus 44.9% statewide, 3rd grade was 29.2% versus 57.9%, and 5th grade was 16.4% versus 41.9%. Sixth grade math was the lone exception at 45.2% versus 39.5%. Science was near the state average: all-grades 25.8% versus 25.5%, and 5th grade 25.8% versus 25.9%.
Year-over-year results declined more than the state in reading, science, and math. Reading fell from 65.31% to 56.6%, science from 33.33% to 25.8%, and math from 35.37% to 31.5%; math’s gap to the state widened from 9.84 points below to 13.4 points below. For every 2025–2026 grade-level test, the school and district percentages are identical, suggesting the school is effectively the only source of district results for grades 3–6. The district’s 4-star, 77th-percentile rank and the school’s 2-star, 45th-percentile rank can tell different stories. Overall, parents should note strong upper-grade reading, near-state science, and significant math challenges in grades 3 and 5, plus a recent rank decline and a widening math gap to watch.
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