Summary:
ZIP code 55021 in Faribault, Minnesota is home to 15 schools serving students from early learning through high school — 4 elementary, 2 middle, 5 high and 4 alternative — with a combined enrollment of 3,345 students. The area is dominated by the Faribault Public School District, whose 8 schools enroll 2,992 students, or 89.4% of the ZIP total; the largest, Faribault Senior High, alone accounts for 956 students, or 28.6% of all students in the ZIP. Poverty indicators are high: the median free/reduced lunch rate across the 15 schools is 72.94%, and several schools sit above 80%.
Bright spots exist. Surad Academy Elementary, with just 77 students and a 100% free/reduced lunch rate, posted 46.0% math and 27.3% science — both slightly above state averages — though its reading score of 20.4% trails the state's 48.6%. Roosevelt Early Learning Center showed 2024–2025 reading of 42.6% and science of 30.65%, above that year's state science mark. Laura Baker SUN Program reported 50.0% reading, slightly above the state's 48.6%, in a program of only 18 students. Faribault Senior High has the strongest graduation picture among large schools at 79.1%, above the district's 71.0% but below the state's 84.9%.
Challenges are concentrated. Faribault Area Learning Center has the most severe outcomes: 32.6% graduation, 23.0% dropout, and 0.0% math and science proficiency. Faribault Middle reported 11.0% math and 6.4% science against state benchmarks of 44.9% and 25.5%. Discovery Public School - Faribault reports 80.0% graduation and 0.0% dropout yet very low test proficiency, and its rank fell from the 53rd percentile in 2018–2019 to the 2nd percentile in 2025–2026. Because several schools enroll fewer than 50 students, one student can shift percentages sharply, and the specialized state academies and alternative programs serve distinct populations, so direct comparisons to comprehensive schools should be made cautiously.
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