Summary:
Elementary schools in the Hawley Public School District in Minnesota are just two in number: the large Hawley Elementary, serving grades PK–6 with 579 students, and the very small Spring Prairie Elementary, serving grades K–6 with only 26 students. The district as a whole is ranked 19th of 458 Minnesota districts, at the 96th percentile with 5 stars, so families are choosing within a highly rated district — but the two schools have very different profiles.
Hawley Elementary is the academic standout. It ranks 45th of 869 state schools, in the 95th percentile with 5 stars, up from the 88th percentile and 4 stars in 2023–2024. In 2025–2026, all-grade proficiency was 76.1% in Math, 68.4% in Reading, and 43.4% in Science — above district figures of 66.9%, 64.4%, and 35.0%, and well above state figures of 44.9%, 48.6%, and 25.5%. Every reported grade-level result is above state, with the strongest being 4th grade Math at 86.7%. Only 16.93% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch, and the student–teacher ratio is 15.5. Math slipped slightly from 79.07% the prior year, while Reading and Science held steady.
Spring Prairie Elementary is a striking contrast: 88.46% free/reduced lunch and 8.6 students per teacher. Its reported Math proficiency of 30.8% is below district and state, while its Reading score of 53.8% is above the state's 48.6% but below the district's 64.4%. Science and most grade-level results are suppressed by the state — these are unknown, not evidence of poor performance. Spring Prairie trails Hawley by 45.3 points in Math and 14.6 points in Reading, and its very small enrollment makes percentages volatile year to year.
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