Summary:
Bertha-Hewitt Public School District in Minnesota serves 506 students across just two schools — Bertha Elementary (PK–6, 293 students) and Bertha Secondary (7–12, 213 students) — with no separate middle or alternative school in the district, which ranks 175 of 458 in the state (62nd percentile, 3 stars).
The two schools have very different profiles. Bertha Secondary is the standout for improvement: its 2025–2026 rank is 128 of 473 (73rd percentile, 4 stars), up sharply from the 48th percentile and 2 stars the year before. Its completion outcomes are strong, with a 90.0% graduation rate and a 2.5% dropout rate, both better than the state's 84.9% and 4.2%. Bertha Elementary is a steady 3-star school in the 54th–60th percentile range, and its standout strength is math: all-grade math proficiency is 55.5%, above both the district's 46% and the state's 44.9%, with science also above state at 28.6% versus 25.5%.
Compared directly, the elementary school outperforms the secondary school in every all-grade subject, with the biggest gap in math — 55.5% versus 28.7%, a 26.8-point difference. Reading is the clearest shared weakness: the elementary school is at 47.9%, slightly below the state's 48.6%, while the secondary school is at 41.0%, 7.6 points below state. Elementary math is strong early — 3rd grade 69.8% and 4th grade 69.0% — but drops to 47.6% in 5th and 30.0% in 6th, an important transition point before students move on. The secondary school improved in all three subjects year over year, with science gaining the most (17.86% to 26.4%), and its End of Course science is strong at 42.9% versus the state's 35%, even as 8th grade science sits at 15.6%. Notably, Bertha Elementary has a higher free/reduced lunch rate (51.19% vs 45.07%) and larger classes (17.9 vs 13.3 students per teacher) yet still posts higher math and science proficiency.
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