Summary:
Zip code 56164 (Pipestone, Minnesota) is served by a single elementary school, Pipestone Elementary, which enrolls 580 students in grades PK–5 as part of the Pipestone Area School District. With only one school in the area, there is no local rival to measure against, but the available record is unusually complete: three years of state rankings and two years of MCA proficiency results in math, reading, and science, each benchmarked against both the district and Minnesota as a whole.
Against its own district, the school looks comparatively strong. Pipestone Elementary holds a 2-star rating and ranks at the 30th percentile of Minnesota elementary schools, while the district holds a 1-star rating at the 17th percentile of districts. The school outperforms district averages in every subject and grade level measured, by +13.0 points in math and +8.0 points in reading at the all-grades level. Fourth grade is the bright spot, reaching 48.8% proficiency in both math and reading — with reading exactly matching the state rate. Fifth grade is the pressure point, posting the lowest marks in all three subjects: math 25.6%, reading 36.3%, and science 16.7%, the last sitting 8.8 points below the state.
Measured against Minnesota overall, the school trails in every subject: math 37.9% versus 44.9%, reading 41.8% versus 48.6%, and science 16.7% versus 25.5%. The trend is the most important thing for families to watch. Reading fell 6.38 points and math 4.84 points in a single year while the state barely moved, and the school's statewide percentile slipped from 46th to 41st to 30th over three years. Nearly half of students (49.14%) qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and a student-teacher ratio of 13.4 suggests staffing is not the limiting factor.
Thank you for your feedback!