Summary
Knoll Elementary is a PK–6 school with 282 students in Ortonville, a small rural community in western Minnesota, and in 2025–2026 it ranked 102 of 869 ranked Minnesota elementary schools — the 88th percentile, or 4 stars. It is part of Ortonville Public Schools, a district ranked 135 of 458 in the state, so the school itself performs better than its district context. The nearest alternatives sit 10–15 miles away in the Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley district: Pre-K - 5th Grade Building (152 students), Big Stone Colony Elementary (19 students), and Lismore Colony Elementary (24 students). Knoll is by far the largest of these, and its data is the most complete.
Knoll's 2025–2026 results beat both its district and the state in every tested subject: math 72.8% (district 56.7%, state 44.9%), reading 64.4% (53.4%, 48.6%), and science 34.4% (23.9%, 25.5%). The most useful nearby comparison is Pre-K - 5th Grade Building, which serves a similar grade span and has a nearly identical free/reduced-lunch rate (36.84% vs. Knoll's 37.59%). Knoll leads it by 22.0 points in math, 9.0 in reading, and 22.6 in science, and has a smaller student/teacher ratio (12.1 vs. 14.7). Fourth grade math stands out at 97.1%, far above the state's 55.2%.
The trajectory is strong. Knoll fell to the 48th percentile in 2018–2019 but has climbed steadily since, reaching its best result in the available history. Math and reading both rebounded in 2025–2026 after dips, and subgroup rankings suggest broad effectiveness — low-income students reached the 90th percentile (5 stars), with male and female student rankings also improving. Two areas to monitor: science, which has dropped from the low 60s in 2022–2024 to 34.4%, and third grade reading at 51.4%, above the state but slightly behind the nearby Pre-K - 5th Grade Building. The two colony schools have high poverty indicators and very small enrollments, so their scores are difficult to compare directly.
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