Kennedy Middle School

Kennedy Middle School is a 558-student school serving grades 6–8 on Randolph Avenue in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, and it is the largest middle-grades option in the Fergus Falls Public School District.

Kennedy performs well above its district's overall standing. The school ranked 73rd of 546 Minnesota middle schools in 2025–26 — the 87th percentile, or about the top 13% of the state — while its district sits at the 57th percentile. Kennedy's proficiency beats the state in both math (54.1% vs. 44.9%) and reading (57.6% vs. 48.6%). The nearest comparison is iQ Academy 6-8, just 0.22 miles away and serving the same grades, where math proficiency is 13.2% and reading 42.6%. The two schools also serve noticeably different populations: 58.1% of iQ Academy students qualify for free or reduced lunch, compared with 34.4% at Kennedy, which suggests two distinct program options rather than interchangeable neighborhood schools.

Two areas are worth watching. Science has fallen sharply — from about 59% proficiency in 2023–24 to 17.7% in 2025–26 — leaving Kennedy roughly level with the state in that subject instead of well ahead of it. Reading has also slid, from 66.2% to 57.6%, while math held steadier. Special education students now rank in the 65th percentile, down from the 86th percentile in 2023–24, though still above the state midpoint. Notably, Kennedy's lowest-income students rank in the 89th percentile — its strongest subgroup result. Class sizes shrank and the poverty rate fell over this same period, so the recent softening is not explained by those factors. Kennedy spent 2020–21 through 2023–24 at the 93rd–95th percentile with 5 stars, so this reads as a step down from an exceptional peak rather than a slide into mediocrity.