Summary:
ZIP code 55912 is home to 17 schools serving students from elementary through high school, including four elementary schools, two middle schools, four high schools and seven alternative programs, with about 5,344 students enrolled in total. Most of these schools belong to Austin Public School District, which is ranked 388 of 458 in Minnesota, at the 15th percentile with 1 star. Several alternative and special-education schools belong to Southern MN Education Consortium or Austin Albert Lea Area Special Educ. Test results are mostly 2025-2026 MCA-III/MCA-IV proficiency percentages; scores marked — are suppressed by the state and should be treated as unknown, not as zero.
Southgate Elementary is the clearest academic bright spot: 46.5% math proficiency, above the state average of 44.9% and far above the district's 26.8%, plus 44.9% reading, the highest in the list but below the state's 48.6%. Neveln Elementary also stands out with 44.2% math. Austin Senior High, the largest school at 1,485 students, posts 27.7% science — above the state's 25.5% overall science average but below the 35.0% End-of-Course state science benchmark. Smec Alternative Learning Center reports the strongest completion outcomes, with an 87.1% graduation rate and 0.0% dropout, though its test scores are suppressed.
Overall, most schools here fall below state proficiency: only Southgate exceeds the state math average, only Austin Senior High exceeds the overall state science average, and no listed school exceeds the state reading average of 48.6%. Poverty is widespread, with free/reduced lunch averaging about 64.5%. Austin Senior High has an 11.8% dropout rate, nearly three times the state's 4.2%, while Austin Online Academy is at 9.2%. Austin Area Learning Center has the lowest outcomes — 1.3% math, 1.6% reading, 0% science — and a 35.3:1 student-teacher ratio. Science is uneven, from 27.7% at the high school down to 6.1% at Ellis Middle and 10.1% at I.J. Holton Intermediate School.
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