Summary:
There is exactly one middle school in the Detroit Lakes Public School District: Detroit Lakes Middle, serving grades 6–8 with 617 students (roughly 206 per grade) at 500 11th Ave in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. On the state's most recent comparison it ranked 189th of 546 middle schools — the 65th percentile — and held 3 stars, up from 61st percentile three years ago, so the school's overall standing has been trending upward.
Reading is the clear strength. Overall reading proficiency is 51.8%, above the state's 48.6%, and the 6th grade stands out at 65.6% versus 53.4% statewide — the strongest single result in the data. The 7th (42.6%) and 8th (47.9%) grades sit at or slightly below state, so the incoming class is arriving notably better prepared than the older cohorts. Math is the weaker core subject at 39.6% versus the state's 44.9%, and the gap widens with each grade: the school is 1.6 points above state in 6th grade math, about even in 7th, and 4.5 points behind in 8th. Encouragingly, both math and reading gained about 3.5 points over the past year while state scores were flat or falling.
Science is the most serious concern: only 10.8% of students are proficient against 25.5% statewide, and in 8th grade — the only grade tested — the school is at 10.8% versus 16.7% for the state. Science also declined by about 3 points year over year, the lone subject moving the wrong direction. The district as a whole performs better than its middle school, ranking 75th of 458 districts (84th percentile, 4 stars), largely because non-middle-school grades do much better in math and science. Context is moderate rather than extreme: 33.23% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the student-teacher ratio is 16.3.
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