Medford Public School District

Medford Public School District is a small Minnesota district of roughly 845 students spread across just two campuses — Medford Elementary serving grades PK–6 and Medford Secondary serving grades 7–12, with no separate middle school. Overall the district is rated 321st of 458 Minnesota districts, at the 30th percentile with 2 stars, and in 2025–2026 it trailed the state in every core subject: 31.0% proficiency in math versus 44.9% statewide, 36.6% in reading versus 48.6%, and 12.2% in science versus 25.5%.

Medford Secondary is the district's bright spot and has been improving: its school rank rose from the 32nd percentile in 2023–2024 to the 42nd percentile in 2025–2026, and its graduation outcomes far exceed the state, with a 98.0% graduation rate against Minnesota's 84.9% and a 1.9% dropout rate — less than half the state's 4.2%. Its 11th grade math proficiency of 40.4% also beat the state's 35.3%, one of the few grade-level results where a Medford school outscored Minnesota. Its reading, however, slipped to 32.6% from 41.8% a year earlier, and its all-grade math and science (31.6% and 15.5%) remain below state levels.

Medford Elementary moved in the opposite direction, falling from the 43rd percentile two years earlier to the 24th percentile with 1 star in the latest ranking (657 of 869). Science is its weakest area at 7.2% proficiency versus 25.5% statewide, and 5th grade math was 10.6% against the state's 41.9%; 3rd grade reading was 21.5% against 46.8%. There are bright spots — 4th grade reading at 46.4% was close to the state's 48.8%, and 5th grade reading was 49.3% — but the school declined in all three subjects year over year. Both schools serve similar shares of students from low-income families (35.62% and 34.04% receiving free/reduced lunch), and the elementary even has the smaller student-teacher ratio (14.0 versus 16.9). With only two schools and small grade-level cohorts, year-to-year swings can be volatile, but the size and direction of these gaps are worth watching.