Best Middle Schools in Minnesota

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Find the best Minnesota middle schools with SchoolDigger.com! Focused on test scores for accurate rankings, our user-friendly site simplifies your search. Empower your decisions by exploring top-rated schools, only on SchoolDigger.com - the ultimate guide to K-12 schools!

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish Minnesota test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the MCA-III test scores by the Minnesota Department of Education. The most recent update was on Friday, August 29, 2025.

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School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)							Ranking (2025 vs 2024)					ID
Rank (of 519)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Average Standard Score (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Rank (2024)	Rank Change from 2024	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	ID
321	Discovery Charter Elementary School	Public, Charter	K-8	4100 66th St E	Inver Grove Heights	55076	Dakota County	Discovery Charter School	Yes	No	No	Yes	(651) 444-8464	166	18	9	39.8%	89 (53.6%)	18 (10.8%)	28 (16.9%)	6 (3.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.6%)	24 (14.5%)	$9,911							39.5	45.6	298	23		270039104764
322	Paynesville Area Secondary School	Public	6-12	795 Business 23 S	Paynesville	56362	Stearns County	Paynesville Area Schools	No	No	No	No	(320) 243-3761	465	32	14.5	28.4%	424 (91.2%)	2 (0.4%)	29 (6.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (1.9%)	$12,502							39.3	45	305	17		272814001239
323	Lester Prairie Secondary	Public	7-12	131 Hickory St N	Lester Prairie	55354	McLeod County	Lester Prairie Public School District	No	No	No	No	(320) 395-2521	222	13	17.4	27.5%	171 (77.0%)	2 (0.9%)	42 (18.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (2.7%)	$11,799							39.3	33	380	57		270264000049
324	Sleepy Eye Sec.	Public	7-12	400 4th Ave SW	Sleepy Eye	56085	Brown County	Sleepy Eye Public School District	No	No	No	No	(507) 794-7904	238	22	10.6	35.3%	149 (62.6%)	1 (0.4%)	80 (33.6%)	4 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.7%)	$13,767							39.1	51.6	257	67		273321001451
325	Mountain Lake Secondary	Public	7-12	450 12th St N	Mountain Lake	56159	Cottonwood County	Mountain Lake Public Schools	No	No	No	No	(507) 427-2325	241	17	13.8	56.0%	135 (56.0%)	2 (0.8%)	69 (28.6%)	19 (7.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	15 (6.2%)	$14,285							39.1	45.9	296	29		272301001135
326	Fridley Middle	Public, Magnet	5-8	6100 W Moore Lake Dr	Fridley	55432	Anoka County	Fridley Public School District	No	Yes	No	Yes	(763) 502-5400	694	59	11.7	72.0%	155 (22.3%)	239 (34.4%)	151 (21.8%)	57 (8.2%)	11 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	81 (11.7%)	$14,203							39.1	29.1	411	85		271242000610
327	Edgerton Secondary	Public	6-12	423 1st Ave W	Edgerton	56128	Pipestone County	Edgerton Public School District	No	No	No	No	(507) 442-7881	228	17	13.2	44.7%	157 (68.9%)	2 (0.9%)	57 (25.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (5.3%)	$13,217							39	34.1	368	41		271122000504
328	Inver Grove Heights Middle	Public	6-8	8167 Cahill Ave E	Inver Grove Heights	55076	Dakota County	Inver Grove Heights Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(651) 306-7200	817	44	18.6	49.4%	341 (41.7%)	106 (13.0%)	235 (28.8%)	40 (4.9%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	93 (11.4%)	$12,547							38.5	36.4	355	27		271503000765
329	Schoolcraft Learning Community	Public, Charter	K-8	8955 Deer School Rd	Bemidji	56601	Beltrami County	Schoolcraft Learning Community Charter	Yes	No	No	Yes	(218) 444-2102	192	19	10	38.0%	135 (70.3%)	1 (0.5%)	9 (4.7%)	2 (1.0%)	29 (15.1%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (8.3%)	$14,863							38.5	73.5	118	211		270022503464
330	Falcon View Online Middle School	Public, Virtual	6-8	275 3rd Street South	Stillwater	55082	Washington County	Wabasha-Kellogg School District	No	No	Yes	No	(651) 565-3559	70	6	12.3	48.6%	45 (64.3%)	5 (7.1%)	9 (12.9%)	1 (1.4%)	2 (2.9%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (11.4%)								38.3	24.3	432	102		274106005488

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for Minnesota

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for MN student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic Students Native American Students White Students Multi-racial Students English Language Learner Students Special Education Students Low Socio Economic Status Students Homeless Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on MCA-III Math, MCA-III Reading test scores released by the Minnesota Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on August 29, 2025, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the Minnesota Department of Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the Minnesota Department of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

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