Schools in Zip Code 56002

Zip code 56002 contains three public schools — two high schools serving grades 9–12 and one middle school serving grades 6–8 — all part of the Mankato Public School District, with a combined enrollment of 3,386 students. The district is rated 4 stars and ranked 105 of 458 in Minnesota, at the 77th percentile, so all three schools sit inside a relatively strong district. Test scores are given for 2024–2025 and 2025–2026, and because the reading exam label changed from MCA-III to MCA-IV, year-over-year reading comparisons should be treated cautiously.

Dakota Meadows Middle School (852 students) is the most consistent performer, holding 4 stars for three straight years while improving from the 77th to the 83rd percentile. Its reading results lead the group: 56.9% proficient overall versus district 54.3% and state 48.6%, with 6th-grade reading at 61.7% and 8th-grade reading at 59.8%. Eighth-grade math is 55%, above the district's 52.3% and the state's 42.3%, and it has the lowest student-teacher ratio at 19.1.

Among the high schools, Mankato West Senior High (1,232 students) has the strongest completion metrics — a 91.7% graduation rate and 4.3% dropout rate — plus the best high school math and reading scores at 46.9% and 49.4%, though both remain below district averages. Its rank, however, has slid from 5 stars and the 93rd percentile in 2023–2024 to 3 stars and the 69th percentile in 2025–2026. Mankato East Senior High (1,302 students) shows the opposite trend, rebounding from 2 stars and the 43rd percentile to 4 stars and the 73rd percentile and leading in science at 41.9%, roughly 7 points above district and state. East's math (35.8%) and reading (45.4%) still trail state averages, and it has the highest free/reduced lunch rate at 36.87%.