Pipestone Senior High

Pipestone Senior High is a grades 9–12 school in Pipestone, Minnesota, serving about 302 students as part of the Pipestone Area School District. In 2025–2026 it ranked 382 out of 473 Minnesota high schools — the 19th percentile, or 1 star — down from the 42nd percentile in 2022–2023. The district itself ranked 378 out of 458 (17th percentile, 1 star).

Academically, the clearest weaknesses are math and reading. In 2025–2026, 16.4% of Pipestone students were proficient in math and 19% in reading, well below the state's 44.9% and 48.6%. The nearby Edgerton Secondary, about 13 miles away, reached 41.7% in math and 39.1% in reading. Science is Pipestone's relative bright spot at 20% — above its district's 13.1% and close to Edgerton's 21%, though still under the state's 25.5%. Graduation is a genuine strength: 92.0% in 2024–2025, above the state's 84.9% and Edgerton's 84.0%. However, the 6.6% dropout rate is above the state's 4.2% and far above Edgerton's 0.0%.

Pipestone has favorable staffing and poverty indicators compared with nearby schools: a 12.7:1 student-teacher ratio and 38.41% free/reduced lunch, both better than Edgerton's. That makes the academic gap more striking, since resources and demographics alone don't explain it. The very small SWWC Alternative Learning Center - Pipestone (39 students) is not a direct academic peer, as its test results are largely suppressed. Subgroup results are broadly low, with female and low-income students near the 8th–9th percentile statewide, though one-year swings suggest small group sizes. Bottom line: the priorities are reversing the math and reading declines, improving outcomes for key student groups, and reducing dropout further.