Lincoln Senior High

Lincoln Senior High is a public high school in Thief River Falls, a small community in northwestern Minnesota, serving about 521 students in grades 9–12 — the largest enrollment among the nearby comparison schools — as part of the Thief River Falls School District.

In 2025–2026, Lincoln ranked 243rd of 473 Minnesota high schools (49th percentile, 2 stars), placing it essentially at the state median. Its rank has moved around rather than trending steadily, from the 34th to the 49th percentile in recent years, and it has not earned a 3-star rating since 2017–2018. Completion is the school's clearest strength: the graduation rate was 95.3% in 2024–2025, compared with 94.5% for the district and 84.9% for the state, and the four prior years were 100%, 93.5%, 94.8%, and 95.4%. Dropout rates of 3.1%, 0%, 1.4%, 3.4%, and 1.5% were all below the state's range. Test proficiency is more mixed: math 28.8%, reading 37.4%, and science 32.8%. Math and reading trail both district and state averages, while all-grade science is above the district's 21.3% and the state's 25.5%.

Compared with nearby schools, Lincoln sits mid-pack overall. Lafayette Secondary and Marshall County Central High rank higher (59th and 56th percentiles, 3 stars), and Lafayette generally leads in math and reading — though Lincoln edges both in 11th-grade math and leads in all-grade science. Goodridge Secondary is weaker on most measures and has the highest dropout rate, while Northwest Area Learning Center is not directly comparable given its alternative mission, very small enrollment, and suppressed science data. Lincoln has the highest student–teacher ratio of the group at 15.9. Among student groups, special education students ranked in the 86th percentile in 2025–2026 — a standout result — while the school-effectiveness ranking for Native American students fell to 0 percentile, last among 43 schools, making it the most significant equity gap in the data.