Summary:
Hawley Public School District in Minnesota contains a single high school, Hawley Secondary, a grades 7–12 school with 453 students located at 714 Joseph St in Hawley, MN — so the district's entire high school story is this one school's story. The district overall is highly ranked, at 19th of 458 Minnesota districts, the 96th percentile, with 5 stars.
Hawley Secondary's standout strengths are its outcomes and its performance against the state. It posted a 93.0% graduation rate in 2024–2025, well above Minnesota's 84.9%, and a 0.0% dropout rate compared with the state's 4.2%. In 2025–2026, every reported grade-level and subject test score was above the Minnesota average, including 7th grade math at 67.5% proficient versus 40.3% statewide (+27.2 points) and 8th grade reading at 62.9% versus 50% (+12.9 points). At the all-grades level it was +9.5 points above the state in math, +9.9 in reading, and +5.0 in science. Its rank history has been strong, at #8 in 2024–2025 and #11 in 2023–2024, both at the 98th percentile with 5 stars. Class sizes are modest, with a 12.6 student-teacher ratio and a 16.78% free/reduced lunch rate.
The main watch item is the latest-year decline: the school slipped to #77 of 473 (84th percentile, 4 stars), and all-grades proficiency fell from 59.65% to 54.4% in math, 65.29% to 58.5% in reading, and 36.91% to 30.5% in science. Science is the softer subject internally, with 8th grade science at 22.5% — still above the state's 16.7%. Note that the school's all-grades scores trail the district's all-grades averages, but the district figures include lower grades the high school does not serve. Older-grade math and reading also run below the strong 7th grade results.
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