Summary:
The 56161 zip code is home to a single public high school, Heron Lake-Okabena Secondary, which serves grades 7-12 with a total enrollment of 158 students. The school is part of the Heron Lake-Okabena School District, which is ranked 314 out of 446 districts in Minnesota and has a 2-star rating from SchoolDigger.
Heron Lake-Okabena Secondary has consistently low test scores across all subject areas and grade levels, with proficiency rates significantly below the statewide averages. The school's four-year graduation rate is 84.2%, and its dropout rate is 4.4%. Over 54% of the school's students receive free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a high-poverty student population, which may be a contributing factor to the school's academic challenges.
The school's student-teacher ratio of 13.5 is relatively low, which could suggest staffing challenges or a lack of resources to provide a more favorable learning environment. Additionally, the school's statewide ranking has been steadily declining over the past three years, from 384 out of 476 Minnesota high schools in 2022-2023 to 324 out of 450 in 2024-2025, indicating that the school is not keeping pace with other schools in the state and may need to implement significant improvements to address its academic performance issues.
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