Tri-City United School District

Tri-City United School District is a four-school district in southern Minnesota serving about 1,927 students across the Montgomery and Le Center/Lonsdale communities, with three PK–8 elementary schools and one high school. The district is rated 3 stars and ranked 206th of 458 districts statewide, while all four individual schools currently carry 2-star ratings — an unusual gap worth noting as you compare options.

Each school has a distinct profile. Le Center Pre K-8 posts the district's best reading results (51.2% proficient, above both district and state) and the single highest grade-level score anywhere in the data — 70.3% of 5th graders proficient in reading — and it has the smallest classes at a 10.9 student-to-teacher ratio, though its math fell 7.2 points in a year and its rank slid from the 66th to the 43rd percentile. Lonsdale Pre K-6 has the strongest math (44.6%, essentially matching the state), the lowest poverty rate at 23.56% free/reduced lunch, and a standout 3rd grade math score of 68.9%, but it recorded the district's largest one-year drops in both math (−7.3 points) and reading (−7.5 points). Montgomery Pre K-8 is the steadiest, holding at the 44th percentile and now the highest-ranked elementary; its 8th grade reading (65.6%) is the best reading result of any grade, but its 4th grade math (31.4%) is the biggest single shortfall in the data. Tri-City United High School has the district's weakest test scores yet strong completion outcomes — a 93.5% graduation rate versus the state's 84.9% and a 1.9% dropout rate versus 4.2%.

District-wide, math is the clear concern, falling 3.4 points while the state barely moved, driven by Le Center and Lonsdale. Reading in the upper elementary and middle grades is a real strength, with 8th grade reading at 61.8% district-wide against the state's 50%. Science is the K–8 weak spot, with all three elementaries between 21.6% and 22.1%, below the state's 25.5%. Large grade-to-grade swings of 25–47 points within the same school suggest cohort differences more than building-wide quality, so visiting and asking about specific grade levels is worthwhile.