Ellsworth Public School District

Ellsworth Public School District in Minnesota is a small, two-school district serving students from prekindergarten through 12th grade: Ellsworth Elementary (PK–6, 76 students) and Ellsworth Secondary (7–12, 60 students), for 136 students total. The district is ranked 148 of 458 in Minnesota, at the 68th percentile with 3 stars. Because enrollment is so small, a single student can shift a percentage by more than a point, so year-to-year swings should be read with caution.

The two schools are moving in different directions. Ellsworth Secondary has climbed from 1 star and the 24th percentile in 2020–2021 to 4 stars and the 88th percentile in 2025–2026, and reports a 0.0% dropout rate versus the state's 4.2%. Its 10th-grade reading proficiency of 69.2 is well above the state's 42.5. However, its all-grade math proficiency is 26.9 against the state's 44.9, and its graduation rate is 81.8 versus 84.9. Ellsworth Elementary has the stronger proficiency profile — reading 55 vs 48.6, science 36.4 vs 25.5, and math 42.5, just under the state's 44.9 — and it outperforms the secondary in all three subjects even though its free/reduced lunch rate is higher (46.05% vs 31.67%). Its latest rank, though, slipped to 52nd percentile and 3 stars from 71st percentile and 4 stars.

Across Ellsworth Public School District, math is the clearest challenge: district math is 36.4 vs the state's 44.9, with both schools below. Reading is a relative strength at 52.8 vs 48.6, and science improved dramatically at both schools to above the state's 25.5. Some grade-level results, such as elementary 3rd-grade math and reading and secondary 7th-grade math and reading, are state-suppressed, meaning they cannot be evaluated rather than that they are weak.