Blue Earth Area Elementary

Blue Earth Area Elementary is a PK–5 public school serving 515 students in Blue Earth, Minnesota, part of the Blue Earth Area School District in a southern Minnesota community where about 53% of students come from lower-income families (free/reduced lunch rate of 52.82% in 2024–25).

For 2025–26, the school ranks 492 of 869 Minnesota elementary schools — 43rd percentile, or 2 stars — which is its highest percentile in the available history, up from the low 20s in 2020–21 through 2022–23. Achievement is mixed: 46.4% of students are proficient in math and 49.2% in reading, both slightly above state averages (44.9% and 48.6%) and above district averages (36.9% and 43.4%). Science is the clear weak spot at 15.1% proficient, well below the state's 25.5%. Results also vary a lot by grade: 3rd grade math is a bright spot at 72.1%, while 5th grade is weak across the board — 20.0% in math, 42.7% in reading, and 15.1% in science. The district itself ranks 220 of 458 (52nd percentile, 3 stars), so the school currently trails its own district.

Compared with nearby schools, United South Central Elementary is the local benchmark, ranking 82nd percentile with 4 stars and beating Blue Earth in every subject by roughly 20 points in math, 12 in reading, and 18 in science. Blue Earth outperforms Fairmont Elementary School in math and reading but falls behind in science and 5th grade, and it is clearly ahead of Granada Huntley East Chain Elementary School. Southern Plains Education Coop. is a small PK–K program (19 students) with no rank. The school's 15.4 student-teacher ratio is close to Fairmont's, and its poverty rate is lower than Fairmont's and Granada's but higher than United South Central's. One equity concern: students in special education rank in the 15th percentile — the lowest reported subgroup — though that is up from 7th and 8th percentile in the prior two years.