Summary:
ZIP code 56129 in southern Minnesota is served by two schools, both part of the Ellsworth Public School District: Ellsworth Elementary, serving grades PK–6 with 76 students, and Ellsworth Secondary, serving grades 7–12 with 60 students. There is no separate middle school, so grades 7 and 8 are housed in the secondary building. Together the two schools enroll 136 students, and the district ranks 148 of 458 in Minnesota — the 68th percentile, with 3 stars.
On rank and momentum, Ellsworth Secondary is the standout, placing 57 of 473 schools in 2025–2026 (88th percentile, 4 stars), up from 24th percentile and 1 star in 2020–2021. Its dropout rate is 0.0% against 4.2% statewide, and 10th grade reading is 69.2% proficient versus the state's 42.5%. Ellsworth Elementary stands out instead for all-grade reading (55.0%) and science (36.4%), both above the district and the state, with 5th grade reading at 63.6% and 4th grade math at 58.3%. Its 2025–2026 rank, however, slipped to 414 of 869 (52nd percentile, 3 stars).
Science was the shared success story, rising from 18.18% to 36.4% at the elementary school and from 5.88% to 26.9% at the secondary school, even as state science edged down. Math is the clearest weakness: elementary math fell 17.5 points to 42.5%, secondary math fell to 26.9% (18 points below the state), and district math dropped from 50.68% to 36.4%, with the weakest results in 5th grade math (18.2%) and 8th grade math (23.1%). Parents should note that several grade-level results are suppressed by the state, and that with cohorts this small, year-to-year swings can be large.
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