Best Elementary Schools in Minnesota for Special Education Students

Check out our new feature available only on SchoolDigger: rankings for different groups of students in Minnesota!

Every year, the Minnesota Department of Education shares test results for various student groups in each school. We use these results to find out which schools do best for each group and list them from the best to the worst.

Additionally, we also compare the performance of the subgroup to the performance of the school as a whole. This makes it easy to see if, for example, Special Education students are overperforming or underperforming their peers in each school.

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.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)							Ranking (Special Education vs All Students - 2025)					ID
Rank (of 562)	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	Statewide Rank Percentile (Special Education)	Statewide Rank Percentile (All Students)	Rank Percentile Difference from All Students	SchoolDigger Rating (Special Education)	SchoolDigger Rating (All Students)	ID
1	Hilltop Primary School	Public	K-4	5700 Game Farm Rd	Minnetrista	55364	Hennepin County	Westonka Public School District	No	No	No	No	(952) 491-8500	422	30	13.9	15.4%	371 (87.9%)	6 (1.4%)	16 (3.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (6.9%)	$12,777							99.8%	99.5%	0.28%			272292001110
2	Capitol Hill Magnet/Rondo	Public, Magnet	1-8	560 Rondo Ave	Saint Paul	55103	Ramsey County	Saint Paul Public Schools	No	Yes	No	No	(651) 325-2500	1,066	49	21.6	41.6%	435 (40.8%)	236 (22.1%)	79 (7.4%)	185 (17.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	131 (12.3%)	$12,271							99.6%	87.4%	12.26%			273384001594
3	Plymouth Creek Elementary	Public	K-5	16005 41st Ave N	Plymouth	55446	Hennepin County	Wayzata Public School District	No	No	No	No	(763) 745-5800	678	45	14.9	11.4%	354 (52.2%)	49 (7.2%)	38 (5.6%)	176 (26.0%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	60 (8.8%)	$12,479							99.5%	98.5%	0.96%			274216002247
4	Groveland Elementary	Public	K-5	17310 Minnetonka Blvd	Minnetonka	55345	Hennepin County	Minnetonka Public School District	No	No	No	No	(952) 401-5600	903	57	15.9	5.9%	727 (80.5%)	15 (1.7%)	78 (8.6%)	27 (3.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	56 (6.2%)	$12,577							99.3%	97.0%	2.27%			271167000544
5	La Ola Del Lago at Grainwood	Public	K-5	5061 Minnesota St SE	Prior Lake	55372	Scott County	Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools	No	No	No	No	(952) 226-0900	463	27	17	14.3%	316 (68.3%)	9 (1.9%)	96 (20.7%)	9 (1.9%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	32 (6.9%)	$12,349							99.1%	81.3%	17.80%			273006003449
6	Normandale Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	5701 Normandale Rd	Edina	55424	Hennepin County	Edina Public School District	No	No	No	No	(952) 848-4100	652	38	17	6.0%	476 (73.0%)	17 (2.6%)	50 (7.7%)	37 (5.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	72 (11.0%)	$10,808							98.9%	98.4%	0.54%			271125000709
7	Excelsior Elementary	Public	K-5	441 Oak St	Excelsior	55331	Hennepin County	Minnetonka Public School District	No	No	No	Yes	(952) 401-5650	707	56	12.7	9.2%	514 (72.7%)	7 (1.0%)	41 (5.8%)	65 (9.2%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	78 (11.0%)	$13,455							98.8%	97.6%	1.16%			271167000543
8	Scenic Heights Elementary	Public	K-5	5650 Scenic Heights Dr	Minnetonka	55345	Hennepin County	Minnetonka Public School District	No	No	No	No	(952) 401-5400	930	64	14.5	9.8%	544 (58.5%)	32 (3.4%)	27 (2.9%)	180 (19.4%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	145 (15.6%)	$13,010							98.6%	99.2%	0.62%			271167000549
9	Gleason Lake Elementary	Public	K-5	310 County Road 101 N	Plymouth	55447	Hennepin County	Wayzata Public School District	No	No	No	Yes	(763) 745-5400	604	39	15.5	18.9%	397 (65.7%)	44 (7.3%)	38 (6.3%)	75 (12.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	50 (8.3%)	$15,507							98.4%	96.7%	1.72%			274216002248
10	St. Croix Preparatory Academy Lower	Public, Charter	K-4	4260 Stagecoach Tr N	Stillwater	55082	Washington County	St. Croix Preparatory Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(651) 395-5920	450	26	17.3	11.3%	314 (69.8%)	40 (8.9%)	22 (4.9%)	61 (13.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (2.9%)	$11,771							98.2%	99.0%	0.75%			270036204106

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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 Low Socio Economic Status 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:

A high school boy doing homework on a laptop

Virtual Schools: The Future of Online Education

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.