Windom Middle

Windom Middle is a 5th–8th grade school in Windom, Minnesota, a small city in Cottonwood County, and it serves 359 students as the only middle school in the Windom Public School District. For 2025-26 it ranked 384th of 546 Minnesota middle schools — about the 30th percentile, with 2 stars — placing it in the bottom third of the state and slightly below its own district's 34th-percentile standing. About half of its students are economically disadvantaged (49.6% free/reduced lunch), and class sizes have shrunk from 16.6:1 in 2022-23 to 14.1:1 in 2024-25, better than the nearby comparison school's 16.0:1.

Math is the defining weakness. Windom's math proficiency is 23.9%, below its district (33.7%) and the state (44.9%), and far below Jackson County Central Middle at 59.0% — roughly two and a half times Windom's rate. Every grade from 5th through 8th sits about 15–19 points under the state, with none above 28%. Reading is the relative bright spot at 42.0%, the only subject where Windom beats its own district average (39.2%) and within about 7 points of the state. Science is the lowest absolute result at 12.6% — about half the state's 25.5% — though here Windom edges out Jackson's 9.1%.

The bigger picture is a trajectory. Windom was a top-half school as recently as 2021-22 (55th percentile, 3 stars) and has slipped in each of the last four reporting years; Jackson County Central School District's middle school, 14 miles away, has climbed to the 76th percentile and 4 stars. One striking strength: Windom's special education students rank at the 70th percentile (4 stars) and its English learners at the 59th percentile, both improving for three straight years and well above the school's overall standing. Low-income students (32nd percentile) and male and female students sit in the bottom quartile. The takeaway: Windom appears to have working intervention systems but a struggling core math program — improving general math instruction would lift the school overall.