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.
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