Best Public Schools in Zip Code 56149

ZIP code 56149 has two elementary schools—Lake Benton Elementary, serving PK–6, and Heartland Elementary, serving K–8—with no middle, high, or alternative school in the ZIP, so older students likely attend school outside the area. The schools are in different districts: Lake Benton Public School District and Pipestone Area School District. Lake Benton Elementary has 100 students and its district is ranked 95th of 458 in Minnesota, at the 79th percentile with 4 stars. Heartland Elementary has 12 students and its district is ranked 378th of 458, at the 17th percentile with 1 star.

Lake Benton Elementary is the ZIP’s clear academic standout. In 2025–2026, all-grades math was 67.9% versus 44.9% statewide—23.0 points above state—and reading was 60.4% versus 48.6%, or 11.8 points above state. Science was 15.4% versus 25.5%, or 10.1 points below state. Grade-level highlights include 5th grade math at 76.9%, 6th grade math at 76.9%, and 5th grade reading at 76.9%. Its recent trend is downward but still strong: from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, math fell from 75.51% to 67.9%, reading from 73.47% to 60.4%, and science from 23.08% to 15.4%. The school rank moved from the 90th percentile with 5 stars to the 71st percentile with 4 stars, yet it remains above state in math and reading.

Heartland Elementary’s own academic performance cannot be judged from this data set because all school-level test scores are marked “—,” meaning the state suppressed them. These should be treated as unknown, not as zero or as evidence of poor performance. With only 12 students, each student represents roughly 8.3 percentage points of enrollment, which helps explain the suppression. Heartland’s free/reduced lunch rate is 75% versus Lake Benton’s 36%, and its student/teacher ratio is 5.1 versus 8.3. District-level 2025–2026 results for Pipestone Area are below state—math 24.9% vs 44.9%, reading 33.8% vs 48.6%, and science 13.1% vs 25.5%—but these are district figures, not Heartland school figures. Overall, Lake Benton Elementary is the clear academic standout, while Heartland Elementary cannot be academically evaluated from the available school-level data.