Beta You're viewing our redesigned school list. Prefer the classic layout?

Best Public Schools in Zip Code 55016

New rankings! SchoolDigger recently updated its Minnesota rankings with newly released test scores for the 2025-26 school year.

Be the first to know when we post new rankings!

At a glance

Schools

7,041

Students

Top rankedCottage Grove Elementary194^th of 869 Minnesota elementary schools

▲

Biggest riser

Armstrong Elementary up 140 spots statewide this year

◉

Smallest classes

Armstrong Elementary 11.5 students per teacher

SchoolDigger ratings

4★

3★

2★

3 schools without a SchoolDigger rating (too few tested students)

See the top-ranked Minnesota schools →

Summary:

ZIP code 55016 covers Cottage Grove, Minnesota, and includes 12 schools — six elementary, two middle, and four high school options (including a comprehensive high school, an alternative high school, a transition program, and adult education) — all part of South Washington County Schools, serving about 7,041 students in grades K–12.

Elementary schools carry this area's academic strength. Cottage Grove Elementary is the clear standout: 194 of 869 schools (78th percentile, 4 stars), with math at 69.3% and reading at 58.3% — the highest in the ZIP and above both district and state. Grey Cloud Elementary (67th percentile, 3 stars) posts the top science score at 28.2% and the lowest free/reduced lunch rate, 16.44%. Armstrong Elementary (61st percentile, 3 stars) is the most improved, climbing from the 45th to the 61st percentile in one year. Among middle schools, Oltman Middle School (61st percentile, 3 stars) outperforms Cottage Grove Middle School (49th percentile, 2 stars) in math.

Challenges concentrate in the upper grades. Park High School has math near 28% and has slipped to the 34th percentile (2 stars), yet graduates 90.0% of students, above district (89.1%) and state (84.9%) rates. Both middle schools report just 14.2% science proficiency. South Washington Alternative High School faces the steepest gaps — 32.7% graduation, 21.8% dropout, 0.0% math, and the ZIP's highest free/reduced lunch at 49.48%; its reading and science are suppressed by the state and should be treated as unknown. Next Step Transition Program and Great Rivers Adult Education are very small, with limited data that is hard to generalize.

Load more schools when map is moved

Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2026)				Ranking (2025)				MCA-IV Reading (2026)								MCA-IV Science (2026)				MCA-III Math (2026)								Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/reduced lunch (2024-25)	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2026)	Statewide Rank (2026)	State Percentile (2026)	SchoolDigger Rating (2026)	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	Rank Change from Previous Year	MCA-IV Reading 3rd Grade	MCA-IV Reading 4th Grade	MCA-IV Reading 5th Grade	MCA-IV Reading 6th Grade	MCA-IV Reading 7th Grade	MCA-IV Reading 8th Grade	MCA-IV Reading 10th Grade	MCA-IV Reading All Grades	MCA-IV Science 5th Grade	MCA-IV Science 8th Grade	MCA-IV Science End of Course	MCA-IV Science All Grades	MCA-III Math 3rd Grade	MCA-III Math 4th Grade	MCA-III Math 5th Grade	MCA-III Math 6th Grade	MCA-III Math 7th Grade	MCA-III Math 8th Grade	MCA-III Math 11th Grade	MCA-III Math All Grades	Total
Armstrong Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	8855 Inwood Ave S	Cottage Grove	55016	Washington County	South Washington County Schools	No	No	No	No	(651) 425-4101	325	28	11.5	37.2%	173 (53.2%)	33 (10.2%)	39 (12.0%)	43 (13.2%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	36 (11.1%)	60.6	340^th of 869 public elementary schools	60.9%		49.3	480^th of 872 public elementary schools	45.0%	140	49.1	53.6	57.7					53.3	20.4			20.4	59.6	60.7	45.5					55.4	$15,934
Crestview Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	7830 80th St S	Cottage Grove	55016	Washington County	South Washington County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(651) 425-3801	425	36	11.8	48.0%	218 (51.3%)	47 (11.1%)	59 (13.9%)	51 (12.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	49 (11.5%)	43.3	533^rd of 869 public elementary schools	38.7%		30.5	641^st of 872 public elementary schools	26.5%	108	38.8	40.5	42.9					40.7	20.3			20.3	52.2	51.9	41.4					48.6	$14,724
Hillside Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	8177 Hillside Tr S	Cottage Grove	55016	Washington County	South Washington County Schools	No	No	No	No	(651) 425-4001	417	36	11.5	31.7%	244 (58.5%)	40 (9.6%)	48 (11.5%)	46 (11.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	38 (9.1%)	49.6	465^th of 869 public elementary schools	46.5%		52.9	448^th of 872 public elementary schools	48.6%	17	45.3	39.1	48.8					44.7	27.5			27.5	56.4	54.7	33.8					47.7	$13,590
Oltman Middle School	Public	6-8	6625 Goodview Avenue	Cottage Grove	55016	Washington County	South Washington County Schools	No	No	No	No	(651) 425-3509	956	50	19.1	29.6%	542 (56.7%)	94 (9.8%)	95 (9.9%)	137 (14.3%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.2%)	85 (8.9%)	58.5	212^th of 546 public middle schools	61.2%		54	226^th of 519 public middle schools	56.5%	14				49.7	39.2	46.1		45.2		14.2		14.2				44.5	38.9	42.0		41.9	$11,351
Park High School	Public	9-12	8040 80th St S	Cottage Grove	55016	Washington County	South Washington County Schools	No	No	No	No	(651) 425-3702	1,992	95	21.0	28.7%	1,172 (58.8%)	193 (9.7%)	260 (13.1%)	206 (10.3%)	6 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	155 (7.8%)	36	311^th of 473 public high schools	34.2%		48.7	262^nd of 450 public high schools	41.8%	49							28.5	28.5			23.5	23.5							27.7	27.7	$11,998
Pine Hill Elementary	Public	K-5	9015 Hadley Ave S	Cottage Grove	55016	Washington County	South Washington County Schools	No	No	No	No	(651) 425-3901	502	38	13.0	27.3%	297 (59.2%)	48 (9.6%)	50 (10.0%)	69 (13.7%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	36 (7.2%)	37.6	580^th of 869 public elementary schools	33.3%		34.4	602^nd of 872 public elementary schools	31.0%	22	42.1	34.6	44.2					40.7	13.8			13.8	60.6	42.3	29.8					44.4	$13,370
South Washington Alternative High School	Public	6-12	8400 E Point Douglas Rd S	Cottage Grove	55016	Washington County	South Washington County Schools	No	No	No	No	(651) 425-7001	97	13	7.2	49.5%	40 (41.2%)	14 (14.4%)	23 (23.7%)	8 (8.2%)	1 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (11.3%)								(n/a)																			0.0	0.0	$24,479
Great Rivers Adult Education	Public	10-12	8400 E Point Douglas Rd S	Cottage Grove	55016	Washington County	South Washington County Schools	No	No	No	No	(651) 425-6169	7	0		—	4 (57.1%)	1 (14.3%)	1 (14.3%)	1 (14.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								(n/a)																					$8,857
Grey Cloud Elementary	Public	K-5	9525 Indian Blvd S	Cottage Grove	55016	Washington County	South Washington County Schools	No	No	No	No	(651) 425-4201	797	50	15.8	16.4%	527 (66.1%)	78 (9.8%)	52 (6.5%)	83 (10.4%)	4 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	53 (6.6%)	66.4	287^th of 869 public elementary schools	67.0%		67	301^st of 872 public elementary schools	65.5%	14	49.2	54.2	63.4					55.5	28.2			28.2	56.8	59.5	54.0					57.0	$12,798
Cottage Grove Middle School	Public	6-8	9775 Indian Blvd S	Cottage Grove	55016	Washington County	South Washington County Schools	No	No	No	No	(651) 425-6804	1,005	62	16.2	27.7%	601 (59.8%)	99 (9.9%)	119 (11.8%)	99 (9.9%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	86 (8.6%)	48.9	279^th of 546 public middle schools	48.9%		51.2	247^th of 519 public middle schools	52.4%	32				42.6	46.9	43.6		44.3		14.2		14.2				29.3	32.5	33.0		31.6	$13,834
Cottage Grove Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	7447 65th St S	Cottage Grove	55016	Washington County	South Washington County Schools	No	No	No	No	(651) 425-5801	432	31	14.1	22.0%	240 (55.6%)	49 (11.3%)	17 (3.9%)	83 (19.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	42 (9.7%)	75.6	194^th of 869 public elementary schools	77.7%		81.1	136^th of 872 public elementary schools	84.4%	58	53.0	56.5	66.2					58.3	27.0			27.0	67.5	70.6	69.9					69.3	$14,065
Next Step Transition Program	Public	12	7155 80th St S	Cottage Grove	55016	Washington County	South Washington County Schools	No	No	No	No	(651) 425-5104	86	4	22.4	44.2%	53 (61.6%)	12 (14.0%)	8 (9.3%)	5 (5.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (9.3%)								(n/a)																					$23,298

Cities Near Zip Code 55016

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Cottage Grove	0.61 mi	13	254^th
Woodbury	3.68 mi	18	103^rd
Saint Paul Park	4.27 mi	2	306^th
Newport	5.5 mi	1	247^th
Inver Grove Heights	6.31 mi	11	345^th

See the top MN Minnesota cities

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.