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Ponemah Elementary

Public Grades PK, KG-8
868th
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 869 Minnesota Elementary Schools
Better than 0% of Minnesota elementary schools
Summary

Ponemah Elementary is a PK–8 school in Ponemah, Minnesota, enrolling 136 students as part of the Red Lake Public School District, and it serves a wider grade span than most nearby elementary options, stretching through middle school.

By state measures, the school sits at the very bottom: in 2025–2026 it ranked 868th of 869 Minnesota schools with 0 stars and 0th percentile, and it has earned 0 stars every year shown, with ranks near the bottom each time. In 2025–2026, 7.4% of students met standards in math, 10.0% in reading, and 0.0% in science — that science figure is an exact zero in the data, not a suppressed value, and it was also 0.0% in the two prior years. Nearby, Red Lake Elementary posted nearly identical math (7.5%) but higher reading (15.5%) and science (4.7%), while Endazhi-Nitaawiging was lower in math (2.0%) and reading (6.0%), with its science result suppressed and therefore unknown. Statewide, math proficiency was 44.9% and science 25.5%. Red Lake Early Childhood Center has no test data because it serves PK–K.

The school serves a community with very high economic need: 88.24% of students qualified for free/reduced lunch in 2024–2025, above the nearby schools. It also has the smallest classes of the group — a 6.9 student-teacher ratio, compared with 12.5 at Red Lake Elementary and 20.5 at Endazhi-Nitaawiging — yet outcomes remain low, so staffing alone hasn't changed results. Some upper-grade figures stand out: 8th grade reading was 35.7% (state: 50%) and 8th grade math 14.3%, while reading was 0.0% in grades 4, 5, and 7. With only 136 students across PK–8, individual grade percentages can swing sharply, and 6th grade math and reading were suppressed — unknown, not zero.

136
Students ?
6.9
Student/teacher ratio ?
$26,064
Per pupil spending ?
88.2%
Free/reduced lunch eligible (2024-25) ?
All students in Minnesota receive free school meals.
 25039 Abinoojiin Dr
       Ponemah, MN  56666-8888

(218) 554-7337

District: Red Lake Public School District


Students who attend Ponemah Elementary usually attend:

High:    Red Lake Secondary
Racial breakdown:

American Indian:
96.3%
Hispanic:
2.2%
White:
0.7%
more
 See top rated Minnesota elementary schools

 Compare Ponemah Elementary to nearby elementary schools!
At a glance
▬ Ranking trend: Holding steady — 1st percentile in 2016 → <1st in 2026
Strengths
✓Small classes — about 7 students per teacher
Worth a look
!Test scores below the Minnesota average (7% vs 43% meeting standards)
!In the lower quartile statewide (<1st percentile)
!Reading scores 39 pts below the Minnesota average
Students meeting standards (2025-2026) ?
This school7%
District avg7%
Minnesota avg43%
Elementary school
868th of 869
Minnesota public elementary schools ?
Bottom 1%▼ down 1 pts since 2016
See the entire ranking list of Minnesota Elementary Schools →
★★★★★
SchoolDigger rating ?
Middle school
486th of 546
Minnesota public middle schools ?
Bottom 11%▲ up 11 pts since 2016
From bottom 1% (2016) to bottom 11% (2026)
See the entire ranking list of Minnesota Middle Schools →
★★★★★
SchoolDigger rating ?
2nd of 2Elementary Schools in the Red Lake Public School District
Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)
Elementary school ranking
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankMinnesota percentileRating
20261.9868 of 8690.1%☆☆☆☆☆
20253.1857 of 8721.7%☆☆☆☆☆
20243.3861 of 8812.3%☆☆☆☆☆
20232.3837 of 8450.9%☆☆☆☆☆
20221.3858 of 8580.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20211.7869 of 8690.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20191.9859 of 8701.3%☆☆☆☆☆
20182.1829 of 8472.1%☆☆☆☆☆
20171.2840 of 8531.5%☆☆☆☆☆
20160.9838 of 8481.2%☆☆☆☆☆
20150.4837 of 8400.4%☆☆☆☆☆
20141.6810 of 8261.9%☆☆☆☆☆
20131.5813 of 8241.3%☆☆☆☆☆
20120.4814 of 8200.7%☆☆☆☆☆
20110.8808 of 8140.7%☆☆☆☆☆
20108.4754 of 8036.1%☆☆☆☆☆
20090.3430 of 4340.9%☆☆☆☆☆
20080.4772 of 7811.2%☆☆☆☆☆
20072.0762 of 7771.9%☆☆☆☆☆
20065.0724 of 7564.2%☆☆☆☆☆
20042.3654 of 6763.3%☆☆☆☆☆
20030.2669 of 6740.7%☆☆☆☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankMinnesota percentileRating
20191.8779 of 7871.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20181.5769 of 7740.6%☆☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankMinnesota percentileRating
20263.3764 of 7640.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20246.7769 of 7933.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20235.1759 of 7741.9%☆☆☆☆☆
20223.9663 of 6630.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20215.1682 of 6830.1%☆☆☆☆☆
20196.3726 of 7401.9%☆☆☆☆☆
20185.0717 of 7281.5%☆☆☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankMinnesota percentileRating
20241.4825 of 8260.1%☆☆☆☆☆
20230.8799 of 7990.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20192.6785 of 7981.6%☆☆☆☆☆
20181.8770 of 7791.2%☆☆☆☆☆

Native American

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankMinnesota percentileRating
202610.439 of 390.0%☆☆☆☆☆
202510.737 of 382.6%☆☆☆☆☆
202413.838 of 429.5%★☆☆☆☆
202312.736 of 397.7%★☆☆☆☆
20228.621 of 210.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20217.220 of 200.0%☆☆☆☆☆
201912.926 of 260.0%☆☆☆☆☆
201816.521 of 224.5%☆☆☆☆☆
Middle school ranking
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankMinnesota percentileRating
202612.6486 of 54611.0%★☆☆☆☆
20255.9501 of 5193.5%☆☆☆☆☆
20245.0531 of 5452.6%☆☆☆☆☆
20234.8517 of 5292.3%☆☆☆☆☆
20222.8519 of 5200.2%☆☆☆☆☆
20195.0508 of 5334.7%☆☆☆☆☆
20181.0517 of 5180.2%☆☆☆☆☆
20170.8522 of 5230.2%☆☆☆☆☆
20160.5507 of 5080.2%☆☆☆☆☆
20153.5494 of 5164.3%☆☆☆☆☆
20111.2470 of 4781.7%☆☆☆☆☆
20101.2442 of 4542.6%☆☆☆☆☆
20090.2228 of 2300.9%☆☆☆☆☆
20080.3408 of 4090.2%☆☆☆☆☆
20070.4400 of 4030.7%☆☆☆☆☆
20042.0367 of 3875.2%☆☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankMinnesota percentileRating
202623.4383 of 45816.4%★☆☆☆☆
20258.5418 of 4323.2%☆☆☆☆☆
20249.9449 of 4735.1%☆☆☆☆☆
202310.9438 of 4594.6%☆☆☆☆☆
20226.0403 of 4040.2%☆☆☆☆☆
201911.9389 of 4156.3%☆☆☆☆☆
20182.3398 of 4010.7%☆☆☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankMinnesota percentileRating
20197.7423 of 4546.8%☆☆☆☆☆
20181.2436 of 4380.5%☆☆☆☆☆

Native American

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankMinnesota percentileRating
202629.448 of 6222.6%★☆☆☆☆
202515.247 of 506.0%☆☆☆☆☆
202414.153 of 553.6%☆☆☆☆☆
202318.144 of 4910.2%★☆☆☆☆
202211.322 of 220.0%☆☆☆☆☆
201924.220 of 2313.0%★☆☆☆☆
20185.923 of 230.0%☆☆☆☆☆

Special Education

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankMinnesota percentileRating
201971.253 of 28281.2%★★★★☆
How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)
Elementary school
Female (2019)1st percentile~ school
Male (2024)<1st percentile~ school
Low Socio Economic Status (2026)<1st percentile~ school
Native American (2026)<1st percentile~ school
Middle school
Special Education (2019)81st percentile+77 vs school
Native American (2026)23rd percentile+12 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2026)16th percentile+5 vs school
Male (2019)7th percentile~ school
By subject vs Minnesota (2025-2026) ?
Reading10%-39 vs state
Math7%-38 vs state
Science0%-26 vs state

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Frequently Asked Questions about Ponemah Elementary

Ponemah Elementary ranks in the bottom 0.1% of Minnesota elementary schools.

Students who attend Ponemah Elementary usually go on to attend:

High : Red Lake Secondary

Students at Ponemah Elementary are 96% American Indian, 2% Hispanic.

In the 2024-25 school year, 136 students attended Ponemah Elementary.

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Latest Minnesota data All new data »
2024–25 through 2025–26 MCA-III & MCA-IV test scoresSep 30, 2026
2024–25 dropout rates & graduation ratesJun 13, 2026
2024–25 MCA-III test scoresAug 29, 2025
2023–24 dropout rates & graduation ratesMay 8, 2025


SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Minnesota Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.

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