Summary:
ZIP code 56470 covers Park Rapids, Minnesota and the surrounding area, where six schools serve roughly 1,461 students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. Five of them — Park Rapids Area Century Elementary, Park Rapids Area High School, Headwaters Educ Learning Program, Century School within a School, and Park Rapids Virtual Academy High — belong to the Park Rapids Public School District, which enrolls about 94% of the area's students. The sixth, Heartland Lakes Elementary, belongs to the Heartland Lakes Community School district. Enrollment skews heavily elementary (about 65%), followed by high school (34%) and middle school (under 2%).
The strongest academic picture comes from Park Rapids Area Century Elementary, the area's largest school at 861 students. Its math proficiency (49.2%) tops both the district and the state, and its 3rd and 4th grade math and reading scores exceed state averages — though 5th and 6th grade results fall below state. Park Rapids Area High School trails statewide results in current math (25.2%), reading (35.5%), and science (16.8%), and its 81.3% graduation rate sits below the state's 84.9%, with a dropout rate of 8.2% versus 4.2% statewide.
Among the concerns, Century School within a School — just 26 students — ranked 519 of 519 with 0% math, 6.9% reading, and 0% science in 2024-25, though its very small size makes such comparisons fragile. Headwaters Educ Learning Program has a 33.3% graduation rate, a 13.3% dropout rate, and the area's highest free/reduced lunch rate at 74%. Heartland Lakes Elementary reports 24.4% math and 31.7% reading, both below state. Science is the clearest district-wide weak spot, at 15.2% district-wide against 25.5% statewide. Several small-school scores are suppressed by the state; those values are unknown, not zero.
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