Summary:
The Dawson-Boyd Public School District in Minnesota has two schools serving PK–12: Stevens Elementary for grades PK–6 and Dawson-Boyd Secondary for grades 7–12, with a combined enrollment of 566 students. The district is ranked 104th of 458 Minnesota districts, in the 77th percentile with 4 stars. It outperforms the state in Math, Reading, and Science, but that district average is heavily shaped by the strong elementary results.
Stevens Elementary is the standout: ranked 76th of 869 schools, in the 91st percentile with 5 stars, and its Math (68.7%), Reading (68.9%), and Science (31.6%) proficiency rates all exceed district and state averages. Grade-level Math is especially strong, including 3rd grade at 81.4% and 4th grade at 80.0%. Dawson-Boyd Secondary is more mixed: 64th percentile with 3 stars, Reading at 55.9% is above the state, but Math at 26.3% is below both the state and district. Science is near the state average, yet graduation is outstanding at 97.7% versus 84.9% statewide, with a 2.2% dropout rate versus 4.2% statewide. Both schools improved from the prior year, with the secondary posting double-digit gains in all three subjects from a lower base.
For parents, this is a two-speed district: a high-performing, improving elementary and a secondary school with strong completion outcomes but uneven test proficiency, especially in Math. At the secondary level, 11th grade Math is 15.8% versus 35.3% statewide, and 8th grade Science is 7.0% versus 16.7%, while End of Course Science is 41.3% versus 35.0%. The secondary spans grades 7–12, so there is no separate middle school to isolate those grades. Staffing also differs: the elementary student/teacher ratio is 11.5, compared with 14.3 at the secondary school, and the elementary has a higher free/reduced lunch rate (40.74%) than the secondary (35.32%).
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