Schools in Zip Code 56542

ZIP code 56542 covers Fosston, Minnesota, where two public schools serve students from prekindergarten through 12th grade: Magelssen Elementary (PK–6, 340 students) and Fosston Secondary (7–12, 256 students), both in the Fosston Public School District. There is no separate middle school, so grades 7–8 are part of Fosston Secondary. The district ranks 153 of 458 in Minnesota, placing it in the 67th percentile with 3 stars.

By state rank, Fosston Secondary is the standout: it is in the 75th percentile with 4 stars, and its 2024–25 graduation rate was 92.3% versus 84.9% statewide. Its upper-grade results are also strong—11th-grade math was 47.1% proficient versus 35.3% statewide, and 10th-grade reading was 51.4% versus 42.5%. However, all-grade math is a weakness at 33.7%, below the district’s 45.8% and the state’s 44.9%; 7th-grade math was 27% versus 40.3%, and 8th-grade math was 34% versus 42.3%. The dropout rate was 7.6% versus the state’s 4.2%, a figure to monitor.

Magelssen Elementary has a clear bright spot in 4th grade: math was 79.2% proficient versus 55.2% statewide, and reading was 70.8% versus 48.8%—the largest positive grade-level gaps in the data. Its all-grade math of 53.3% and reading of 52.9% also exceed state averages. But its latest rank is 54th percentile with 3 stars, down from 72nd in 2023–24, and science is very weak: elementary all-grade science is 10% versus 25.5% statewide, with 5th-grade science at 10% versus 25.9%. District science is 17.9% versus 25.5%, and the high school’s science is 21.7% versus 25.5%. Poverty indicators differ, with free/reduced lunch at 58.53% in the elementary and 49.61% in the high school; student-teacher ratios are 12.6 and 13.3.