Summary:
The Waseca Public School District serves roughly 1,709 students across five schools that together cover pre-kindergarten through 12th grade: one elementary, two middle-level schools and two high schools. As a whole, the district ranks 270 of 458 in Minnesota, placing it at the 41st percentile with 2 stars, though that single number hides a wide gap between its strongest and weakest schools.
Waseca Junior High is the district's standout, ranked 146 of 546 (73rd percentile, 4 stars) and improving in each of the last three years. Its 7th and 8th grade math scores are above the state average, 8th grade science is slightly above the state, and reading sits essentially at the state level. Waseca Senior High posts the district's best graduation rate at 91.3%, above both the district's 84.7% and the state's 84.9%, and its End of Course science score of 38.5% tops the district's 33.6% and the state's 35.0%. Its 11th grade math is also above the state average.
At the other end, the Waseca Area Learning Center enrolls only 65 students and reports 0.0% math and reading proficiency, 5.6% science proficiency and a 39.1% graduation rate; it has fallen from the 25th percentile to the 2nd percentile over three years, and its 70.77% free/reduced lunch rate points to a high-need population. Hartley Elementary and Waseca Intermediate School trail the state across most tested grades — Hartley's 3rd grade math is 35.5% versus the state's 57.9%, and the Intermediate is below the state in 4th, 5th and 6th grade math, with 6th grade reading closest to average. Notably, class size and free/reduced lunch do not track neatly with results: Junior High has the highest student-teacher ratio at 18.2 yet the best outcomes.
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