Summary:
ZIP code 55120 in Mendota Heights, Minnesota contains exactly one school — Friendly Hills Middle — a grades 5–8 middle school with 785 students in the West St. Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan district, so there are no other elementary, high, or alternative schools in this area to compare it against.
Friendly Hills Middle has climbed the state rankings each year: 153rd of 545 schools (72nd percentile) in 2023–24, 133rd of 519 (74th percentile) in 2024–25, and 121st of 546 (78th percentile) in 2025–26, holding a 4-star rating throughout. Reading is its strongest subject, with 53% of all students proficient, above both the district (50.5%) and the state (48.6%); 8th-grade reading stands out at 60.8%, which is 10.8 points above the state's 50%. Math is mixed but generally strong at the grade level, beating the state in grades 5, 6, and 8 and beating the district in all four grades, with 7th-grade math the one soft spot at 38.4% against the state's 40.3%. Science splits by grade: 8th grade is 22.8% proficient, 6.1 points above state, while 5th grade is essentially even with state at 25.6% versus 25.9%.
One caveat matters when reading the all-grade numbers: the state's all-grade figures include grades this school does not serve. Measured against the state's grade-level scores for grades 5–8 only, the school sits above state in math (43% vs about 41.0%), reading (53% vs about 50.35%), and science (24.1% vs about 21.3%). With 41.15% of students eligible for free or reduced lunch and a 17.4 student/teacher ratio, those results are notable. Since 55120 has just this one school, the most useful comparisons are against the district and the state.
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