Summary:
The Owatonna Public School District in southern Minnesota includes three schools classified as middle schools — Owatonna Middle School serving grades 6–8, Owatonna Online 7-8, and Owatonna Online 4-6 — enrolling 1,051 students combined. The district is rated 2 stars and ranked 253 of 458 in Minnesota, at the 45th percentile.
Owatonna Middle School is the clear standout and by far the largest, with 1,015 students, or about 96.6% of middle-level enrollment. It earned 3 stars and ranked 186 of 546 in 2025–26, placing it in the 66th percentile — up from the 59th percentile in 2023–24. Its all-grade proficiency sits close to district and state levels in math (42.6%, versus 42% district and 44.9% state) and reading (47.6%, versus 45.9% and 48.6%), and it exceeds the state in 6th and 7th grade math (43.6% and 45.1%). Science is its weakest area, at 14.2%, below the district's 20.9% and the state's 25.5%.
The two online schools are very small and serve higher-need populations, with free/reduced lunch rates of 68.18% at Owatonna Online 7-8 and 64.29% at Owatonna Online 4-6, compared with 42.66% at Owatonna Middle. Where scores are reported, they trail district and state by wide margins: math is 5.3% and 11.8%, and reading is 16.7% and 38.9%. Reading at Online 4–6 is more mixed, reaching 50% in 2024–25 before falling to 38.9%. Many values, including science and several grade-level results, are suppressed because of enrollments of just 22 and 14 students — those figures are unknown, not zero. Online 4–6 also serves grades 4–6, so it is not directly comparable to the 6–8 and 7–8 schools.
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