Summary:
ZIP code 56482 — Wadena, Minnesota — contains exactly one elementary school in this data, Wadena-Deer Creek Elementary, which serves grades PK–4 with 450 students and is part of the Wadena-Deer Creek School District; because it is the only elementary school in the ZIP, the useful comparisons are school versus district and state, plus year-over-year change.
Academically, math is the relative strength and reading is the clear weakness. In 2025–2026 all-grades math, the school scored 41.6% proficient, above the district's 37.2% but below the state's 44.9%. In all-grades reading, it scored 27.7%, below both the district's 36.6% and the state's 48.6%. Grade-level gaps in reading are large: 3rd grade reading is 23.1% (state 46.8%) and 4th grade reading is 31.8% (state 48.8%). Math is still well below state at grade level — 3rd grade at 41% versus 57.9%, and 4th grade at 42% versus 55.2%. Fourth grade outperforms 3rd grade in both subjects. Note that reading is labeled MCA-III in 2024–2025 but MCA-IV in 2025–2026, so year-over-year reading comparisons should be made with caution.
Rankings are consistently low: 698 of 869 (20th percentile, 1 star) in 2025–2026, 634 of 872 (27th percentile, 1 star) in 2024–2025, and 650 of 881 (26th percentile, 1 star) in 2023–2024, while the district ranks 291 of 458 (36th percentile, 2 stars). All-grades math fell 5.03 points year over year and reading fell 3.16 points. About 52.22% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch, and the student-teacher ratio is 11.1. Overall, the school is stronger in math than reading, remains below state benchmarks in most tested areas, and ranks in the bottom fifth of ranked schools.
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