Summary
Minnesota Virtual Academy High is a grades 9–12 virtual school in Houston, Minnesota, serving 706 students as part of the Houston Public School District in rural southeast Minnesota. For 2025–2026 it ranked 200 of 473 schools statewide (58th percentile, 3 stars), above its own district and above its co-located district school, Houston Secondary (37th percentile, 2 stars). Its rank has been volatile — around the 34th–42nd percentile in the late 2010s, 64th percentile in 2020–2021, and 41st–42nd percentile in 2022–2024 — before rising to 48th percentile in 2024–2025 and 58th this year, its best since 2020–2021. It is also by far the largest school in the area, more than twice the size of La Crescent Senior High (328 students).
In 2025–2026, 42.1% of students were proficient in math, 44.1% in reading, and 27.6% in science. Math is above the district (35.7%) but 2.8 points below the state; reading is slightly below the district and 4.5 points below the state; science is above both. Math has climbed sharply, from 11.63% in 2022–2023 to 42.1%, and 11th-grade math beats both district and state. Reading, however, fell from 53.33% in 2024–2025 to 44.1%. Compared with neighbors, the school outperforms Houston Secondary and Rushford-Peterson Senior High in all three subjects and matches La Crescent Senior High in math, but trails Caledonia Senior High, Spring Grove Secondary, and La Crescent Senior in reading and science.
Completion is the biggest concern. Graduation rose from 47.2% in 2021–2022 to 64.1% in 2024–2025, but remains 20.8 points below the state and below the district. Dropout is 21.3%, versus 15.7% district and 4.2% statewide; most nearby comprehensive high schools graduate above 94% with dropout near 0%–3%. Houston Secondary reports 98.0% graduation and 0.0% dropout, a stark contrast suggesting the two schools serve different student populations with different outcome patterns. Operationally, free/reduced lunch has dropped from 65.38% to 53.54%, and the student-teacher ratio improved from 17.2 to 13.3. The school has posted strong results for Hispanic and special education students in recent years, while low-SES students rank at the 38th percentile, below the school’s overall 58th.
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