Summary:
ZIP code 55790, in the Tower-Soudan area of northern Minnesota, contains just two public schools that together cover the full PK–12 span: Tower-Soudan Elementary, an elementary school serving grades PK–6 with 95 students, and Vermilion Country School, a high school serving grades 7–12 with 50 students, for a combined enrollment of 145. No middle school and no alternative school are listed in the area summary. Tower-Soudan belongs to St. Louis County School District, while Vermilion operates as its own district, Vermilion Country School.
Academically, Tower-Soudan Elementary is the stronger of the two. In 2025–2026 its all-grade proficiency was 40.9% in Math, 42.2% in Reading, and 16.7% in Science — above its district in Math and Reading, but below the state's 44.9%, 48.6%, and 25.5%. Its state rank improved to 583 of 869 schools (33rd percentile, 2 stars), up from 1 star in 2024–2025 and 2022–2023. Vermilion Country School's proficiency was much lower: 0% in Math, 22.7% in Reading, and 16.1% in Science, ranking 374 of 473 schools (21st percentile, 1 star). Both schools sit below the state median, though each is above its own district's percentile rank.
Vermilion's graduation figures tell a very different story from its test scores: 92.3% graduation and 0.0% dropout in 2023–2024, compared with state figures of 84.9% and 4.2% for 2024–2025. Science is the clearest shared weakness, with both schools below the state average. Vermilion also serves a more economically disadvantaged population, with an 80% free/reduced lunch rate versus 58.95% at Tower-Soudan, and a lower student-teacher ratio of 9.2 versus 10.9. Some values are marked "—" because the state suppressed them to protect student privacy; these are unknown, not zero or evidence of weakness.
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