Summary:
ZIP code 56073 in New Ulm, Minnesota is served by two elementary schools — Jefferson Elementary, which covers grades 1–4 with 643 students, and Washington Learning Center, which covers PK–K with 180 students. Both belong to the New Ulm Public School District, which ranks 73rd out of 458 Minnesota districts, at the 84th percentile with 4 stars. Together the two schools enroll 823 students, with Jefferson accounting for roughly 78% of that total.
Jefferson Elementary is the academic standout in math. Its All Grades math proficiency of 61.4% is 7.8 points above the district (53.6%) and 16.5 points above the state (44.9%), and both 3rd grade math (62.7%) and 4th grade math (60.1%) also beat state results. Reading is the clear improvement area: All Grades reading is 44.4%, below the district's 48.5% and the state's 48.6%, with the weakest result in 4th grade reading at 41.1%, which is 7.7 points under the state. The same math-strong, reading-behind pattern appeared in 2024–2025. Its ranking trend is positive, moving from 504 of 881 (43rd percentile, 2 stars) in 2023–2024 to 378 of 869 (57th percentile, 3 stars) in 2025–2026.
Washington Learning Center serves a much younger population and has no test scores listed in this dataset, so it cannot be compared academically with Jefferson — that absence reflects its PK–K grade span rather than weak performance. Its notable metrics are a student/teacher ratio of 11.7, lower than Jefferson's 13.1, and a free/reduced lunch share of 43.89% versus Jefferson's 37.64%. Its rankings in the data date from 2013–2016 and are not a current signal. For parents, the practical takeaway is that math is a strength at Jefferson while reading, especially in 4th grade, is where the school trails district and state benchmarks.
Thank you for your feedback!