Summary:
ZIP code 55342 in Hector, Minnesota is home to just one elementary school — Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart Element — which serves grades PK–5 with 186 students as part of the Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart district, ranked 217th of 458 Minnesota districts (53rd percentile, 3 stars). The school's rank history is strong but slipping: it placed 48th of 881 schools (95th percentile, 5 stars) in 2023–2024, 72nd of 872 (92nd percentile, 5 stars) in 2024–2025, and 258th of 869 (70th percentile, 4 stars) in 2025–2026, still above the district's 3-star rating.
Test results have exceeded Minnesota averages in all-grade Math, Reading, and Science in both reported years. In 2024–2025, Math was 75.61% versus the state's 45.21% (+30.40 points), Reading 65.06% versus 49.59% (+15.47), and Science 44.83% versus 26.15% (+18.68). In 2025–2026, Math was 58.1% versus 44.9% (+13.2), Reading 54.8% versus 48.6% (+6.2), and Science 38.5% versus 25.5% (+13.0). The school also beat its district in every subject both years — in 2025–2026 by +20.1 points in Math and +19.1 in Science.
Results did decline year over year: Math fell 17.51 points, Reading 10.26, and Science 6.33. Grade-level 2025–2026 data show 5th grade as a strength (Reading 68.0% vs. state 54.5%; Math 53.8% vs. 41.9%; Science 38.5% vs. 25.9%), while 4th grade Reading (43.5% vs. 48.8%) and 3rd grade Math (52.0% vs. 57.9%) trailed the state while matching district averages. With 50.54% of students eligible for free/reduced lunch and a student-teacher ratio of 11.4, the school still produced above-state results across all subjects.
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