Summary:
ZIP code 55309 is home to a single middle school: Big Lake Middle School, which serves grades 6–8 in Big Lake, Minnesota, as part of the Big Lake Public School District. With 632 students, a 15:1 student-teacher ratio, and 34.97% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch in 2024–2025, it is a moderately sized school with moderate poverty levels. Because it is the only middle school in the ZIP, there are no local peers to compare it against; the meaningful comparisons are to its own district and to the state.
Eighth grade is the clear bright spot. Eighth-grade math is 54.9% proficient against a state figure of 42.3%, and 8th-grade reading is 60.8% against 50.0%, while 8th-grade science sits essentially at state (16.6% vs 16.7%). Earlier grades lag: 7th-grade reading is 36.9% versus 43.5% statewide and 7th-grade math is 36.8% versus 40.3%; 6th-grade reading is 47.2% versus 53.4%, though 6th-grade math is essentially at state (39.4% vs 39.5%). Across all grades, reading is 48.1% (state 48.6%), math is 43.4% (state 44.9%), and science is 16.6% (state 25.5%) — the science gap largely reflects that the school's all-grade figure covers only the 8th-grade science test, where it matches state.
Results slipped from the prior year. Math fell from 47.68% to 43.4% and reading from 55.25% to 48.1%, moving math from above state to slightly below. The school's ranking followed: 179 of 546, 67th percentile, 3 stars for 2025–2026, down from 122 of 519, 76th percentile, 4 stars in 2024–2025, but still above 2023–2024, when it was 197 of 545, 64th percentile, 3 stars. At the 67th percentile, the school ranks above the district overall at 59th percentile.
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