Riverway Secondary

Riverway Secondary is a public charter high school located in Winona, Minnesota, serving grades 7-12 with a total enrollment of 68 students. Despite being part of the Riverway Learning Community Charter district, the school has consistently ranked in the bottom quartile of Minnesota high schools, currently ranking 408 out of 480 schools and receiving a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Riverway Secondary faces significant challenges, including low academic performance, with proficiency rates well below the Minnesota average across all grade levels and subject areas. For example, in the 2024-2025 school year, only 21.21% of Riverway students were proficient in math, compared to the state average of 45.21%. The school also has a very high percentage of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, ranging from 68.42% to 80.88% over the past few years, significantly higher than the state average. Additionally, Riverway Secondary has a relatively high student-teacher ratio, ranging from 16.4 to 48.3 over the past few years, higher than the ratios of the nearby schools, such as Houston Secondary, Rushford-Peterson Senior High, and Lewiston-Altura Secondary, which generally have lower student-teacher ratios.

Riverway Secondary's four-year graduation rates have been below 85% in recent years, ranging from 75% to 84.2%, lower than the graduation rates of the nearby schools. The school's performance has remained consistently low over the past decade, with little to no improvement observed, suggesting that the school may be facing systemic challenges that have not been adequately addressed. The high poverty rates and student-teacher ratio at Riverway Secondary may be contributing to the school's low academic performance and graduation rates, and the proximity to alternative learning options, such as River Valley Academy Alternative Learning Center and Winona Area Learning Center, may indicate a need for specialized educational approaches to better serve the unique needs of the student population.