Summary:
ZIP code 56073 in New Ulm, Minnesota contains four high schools and high-school programs serving grades 7 through 12, with 761 students enrolled in a landscape split between one large traditional high school and three small alternative programs. New Ulm High School enrolls 687 students in grades 9–12 — 90.3% of the ZIP's high-schoolers — while River Bend Area Learning Center (43 students, grades 7–12), River Bend Online Alternative Learning Center (23 students, grades 9–12) and the W.O.R.K. Program (8 students, grades 10–12), all run by the River Bend Education District, share an address on South Broadway.
New Ulm High School, part of the New Ulm Public School District (84th percentile statewide, 4 stars), is the area's strongest performer. Its 2024–2025 graduation rate of 96.4% is 11.5 points above the state's 84.9%, and its 1.1% dropout rate is 3.1 points below the state's 4.2%. Science is a standout at 58.6% proficient versus 25.5% statewide and 37.7% across its own district. Math and reading are mixed: all-grade math (40.9%) and reading (45.1%) were slightly below state, though 11th-grade math and 10th-grade reading were above. Its rank slipped to 80th of 473 (83rd percentile, 4 stars) in 2025–2026 after two 5-star years.
The three River Bend programs serve higher-need students with far lower outcomes. River Bend Area Learning Center graduates 57.8% of students and drops out 15.7%, against state rates of 84.9% and 4.2%, with 9.5% math proficiency versus 44.9% statewide — though it improved from 0 stars and the 4th percentile in 2023–2024 to 1 star and the 18th percentile in 2025–2026. River Bend Online Alternative Learning Center reports a 36.3% graduation rate but a 9.0% dropout rate, better than its district's 13.8%. Its test scores, and nearly all W.O.R.K. Program data, are suppressed by the state ("—") — unknown, not zero. Free/reduced lunch is roughly double New Ulm High's 24.75% at the River Bend programs (48.84% and 52.17%).
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