Park Rapids Area High School

Park Rapids Area High School is the comprehensive 7–12 school in Park Rapids Public School District, serving 420 students in Park Rapids, Minnesota, a north-central lakes-country town. It is the district's main traditional secondary option; the district's only other high school listings are a 21-student virtual academy and a 50-student alternative learning program, both housed at the same address.

Academically, the school ranks 304th of 473 Minnesota high schools (2 stars). In 2025-26, all-grades proficiency trailed the state in math (25.2% vs. 44.9%), reading (35.5% vs. 48.6%), and science (16.8% vs. 25.5%). Seventh grade is a bright spot — math 39.0% and reading 41.8%, both close to state levels — but 8th grade math falls to 15.5%, a 26.8-point gap that carries into 10th grade reading (26.1%) and 11th grade math (21.7%). Nearby, Nevis Secondary outperforms on every academic measure even with a similar poverty rate, while Menahga High School posts similar test scores. Notably, Park Rapids matches or slightly beats its own district at every individually reported grade level.

The bigger difference is completion: an 81.3% graduation rate and 8.2% dropout rate, versus 92.3% and 1.5% at Menahga and 97.9% and 2.0% at Nevis — even though Park Rapids has the lowest poverty rate and the lowest student-teacher ratio (12.6) of the three. Low-income students here rank above the school overall (41st percentile), but special education students dropped to the 7th percentile with a 0-star rating. Science results have swung widely year to year, and small cohort sizes mean single-year figures deserve caution.