Pine River-Backus School District

Summary:

The Pine River-Backus School District in Minnesota serves students from elementary through high school, including an alternative learning program. The district's schools show a mix of strengths and areas for improvement, with the Pine River-Backus Elementary School standing out for its strong academic performance, particularly in 3rd grade math and reading proficiency. In contrast, the Pine River-Backus High School and the Pine River-Backus ALP face challenges, with the alternative learning program struggling academically.

The Pine River-Backus Elementary School has shown steady improvement in its statewide ranking, moving from 554th out of 845 Minnesota elementary schools in 2022-2023 to 375th out of 872 in 2024-2025. The school's 3rd grade math proficiency rate of 71.19% in 2024-2025 is significantly higher than the state average of 57.93%, and its reading proficiency also outperforms the state across all grade levels. In contrast, the Pine River-Backus High School, while improving its graduation rate to 84.2% in 2023-2024, lags behind the state average in academic performance, with its 8th grade reading proficiency rate of 41.07% in 2024-2025 being lower than the state average of 45.97%.

The Pine River-Backus ALP, the district's alternative learning program, struggles academically, with 0% of 11th graders proficient in math in 2024-2025. This highlights the need for targeted interventions and support to help students in alternative learning programs succeed. Additionally, the high percentages of free and reduced-price lunch recipients at both the elementary school (68.55%) and the alternative learning program (72%) suggest that the district may need to address socioeconomic challenges that could be impacting student performance.

District Detail

401 Murray Ave
Pine River, MN 56474-0610

(218) 587-4720

SchoolDigger Rank:
296^th of 446 Minnesota districts

See the 2025 Minnesota District rankings!

Grades served: PK, KG-12
Students: 906

Primary Schools: 1
Middle Schools: 0
High Schools: 2
Alternative Schools: 0

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				MCA-III Math (2025)								MCA-III Reading (2025)								Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	MCA-III Math 3rd Grade	MCA-III Math 4th Grade	MCA-III Math 5th Grade	MCA-III Math 6th Grade	MCA-III Math 7th Grade	MCA-III Math 8th Grade	MCA-III Math 11th Grade	MCA-III Math All Grades	MCA-III Reading 3rd Grade	MCA-III Reading 4th Grade	MCA-III Reading 5th Grade	MCA-III Reading 6th Grade	MCA-III Reading 7th Grade	MCA-III Reading 8th Grade	MCA-III Reading 10th Grade	MCA-III Reading All Grades	Total
Pine River-Backus Elementary	Public	PK, KG-6	401 Murray Ave	Pine River	56474	Cass County	Pine River-Backus School District	No	No	No	Yes	(218) 587-4447	478	37	12.8	68.0%	429 (89.7%)	2 (0.4%)	14 (2.9%)	3 (0.6%)	4 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (5.4%)	59.7	375^th of 872 public elementary schools	57.0%		46.9	530^th of 881 public elementary schools	39.8%	155	71.2	57.9	28.8	26.0				45.1	62.7	50.9	57.5	60.0				57.7	$11,652
Pine River-Backus High School	Public	7-12	810 1st St N	Pine River	56474	Cass County	Pine River-Backus School District	No	No	No	No	(218) 587-4425	371	26	14.2	56.1%	346 (93.3%)	1 (0.3%)	6 (1.6%)	5 (1.3%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (3.0%)	24.7	362^nd of 450 public high schools	19.6%		25.2	373^rd of 480 public high schools	22.3%	11					24.3	28.6	11.5	21.9					29.4	41.1	36.4	35.2	$11,954
Pine River-Backus ALP	Public	9-12	1000 1st St N	Pine River	56474	Cass County	Pine River-Backus School District	No	No	No	No	(218) 587-3131	57	2	23.8	57.9%	53 (93.0%)	2 (3.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.8%)								(n/a)							0.0	0.0									$18,186

Districts nearby

District	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Pequot Lakes Public Schools	9.68 mi	3	45^th
Freshwater Education District	9.74 mi	21
Crosslake Community Charter School	14.62 mi	3	349^th
Brainerd Public School District	15.34 mi	14	203^rd
Up North Learning Center	24.98 mi	1

See the top MN Minnesota districts

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Minnesota Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.