Best High Schools in Zip Code 56540

ZIP code 56540 has one high school, Fertile-Beltrami Secondary, serving grades 7–12 in Fertile, Minnesota, with 246 students as part of the Fertile-Beltrami School District. Because it is the only high school in the ZIP code, parents can look at it both on its own and against district and state benchmarks. The school has a 17.3 student-teacher ratio and 30.49% of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch in 2024–2025. It is a 4-star school in 2025–2026, ranked 107th of 473 Minnesota high schools, placing in the 77th percentile. The district also ranks 82nd of 458 districts, in the 82nd percentile with 4 stars.

For 2024–2025, the school’s graduation rate is 93.6%, well above Minnesota’s 84.9%, and its dropout rate is 2.1%, half the state’s 4.2%. In 2025–2026, it outperformed the state in Reading and Science at the All Grades level: Reading 51.2% proficient vs. state 48.6%, and Science 28.6% vs. state 25.5%. Several grade-level results are especially strong: 7th-grade Math 56.8% vs. state 40.3%, 7th-grade Reading 59.5% vs. state 43.5%, 10th-grade Reading 61.4% vs. state 42.5%, and Science End of Course 40.9% vs. state 35%. The school also improved in all three tested subjects from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026: Math 38.26% to 42.0%, Reading 43.24% to 51.2%, and Science 20.55% to 28.6%.

Math is the clearest relative weakness. Math All Grades is 42.0%, below the state’s 44.9% and well below the district’s 53.1%, and 11th-grade Math is 28.6% vs. the state’s 35.3%. Eighth grade also has soft spots: Reading 32.5% vs. state 50.0%, Science 15.0% vs. state 16.7%, and Math 40.0% vs. state 42.3%. Rank history shows some volatility—81st percentile in 2023–2024, 60th in 2024–2025, and 77th in 2025–2026—but the school remains a 4-star, top-quartile school. Overall, it is above state average in graduation, dropout prevention, reading, and science, with math and 8th-grade reading/science as the main areas to watch.