Schools in Zip Code 55705

ZIP code 55705 covers Aurora, Minnesota, and is served by two public schools — Mesabi East Elementary (grades PK–6, 470 students) and Mesabi East Secondary (grades 7–12, 392 students) — both in the Mesabi East School District, with a combined enrollment of 862 students and no standalone middle school, since grades 7–8 sit inside the secondary building. The district as a whole ranks 275 of 458 in Minnesota, the 40th percentile with 2 stars.

The two schools are heading in opposite directions. Mesabi East Secondary ranks 181 of 473 (62nd percentile, 3 stars), recovering from a 2024–2025 dip to the 42nd percentile, after earlier standing at the 64th percentile. Mesabi East Elementary ranks 560 of 869 (36th percentile, 2 stars) and has slipped steadily: 43 → 42 → 36 percentile. Interestingly, the elementary school actually posts higher all-grade proficiency in Math (36.4% vs. 26.5%) and Reading (46.0% vs. 40.9%), while the secondary school leads only in Science (18.3% vs. 11.1%) — likely because elementary and high schools are compared against different grade-level benchmarks. Free/reduced lunch is near half at both (49.79% elementary, 46.68% secondary), and student-teacher ratios are 14.8 and 17.5 respectively.

Science is the clearest shared weakness: both schools trail the state (25.5%), and science fell at both from the prior year. The 5th–8th grade band is the sharpest concern — 5th grade Math 18.5% and 6th grade Math 16.2% at the elementary school, 8th grade Math 16.9% and 8th grade Science just 3.1% at the secondary school, all far below state averages. Still, there are bright spots: 4th grade Math and Reading and 6th grade Reading exceed state at the elementary school, while 10th grade Reading, Science End of Course, and 11th grade Math are near or above state at the secondary school. The secondary graduation rate of 88.0% beats the state's 84.9%, though its dropout rate of 4.4% is slightly above the state's 4.2%.