Summary:
ZIP code 56636 covers Deer River, Minnesota, and the Deer River Public School District, with three schools serving 828 students: one elementary school, two high schools, no middle school, and no alternative school. King Elementary serves PK–5 with 390 students, Deer River Secondary serves grades 6–12 with 425 students, and Deer River High School ALP serves grades 10–12 with just 13 students. The district is ranked 266 of 458 in Minnesota, at the 42nd percentile, with 2 stars — an average that hides a large gap between its schools.
King Elementary is the clear standout, climbing from 301 of 881 (66th percentile, 3 stars) in 2023–2024 to 183 of 869 (79th percentile, 4 stars) in 2025–2026. It scored above both district and state in all three tested subjects, with Math at 62.8%, Reading at 67.1%, and Science at 29.4% — 17.9, 18.5, and 3.9 points above the state, respectively — despite a free/reduced-lunch rate of 67.95%. Deer River Secondary goes the other way, at 393 of 473 (17th percentile, 1 star) for 2025–2026, with Math at 21.1%, Reading at 37.3%, and Science at 12.4%, all below district and state. Its 2024–2025 graduation rate of 87.0% was above the district's 83.9% and the state's 84.9%, but its dropout rate of 7.4% was also above the state's 4.2%.
Deer River High School ALP cannot be judged on current achievement: its test scores are suppressed by the state, and its current school-level graduation and dropout rates are not reported. Its 2020–2021 figures of 20.0% graduation and 10.0% dropout are historical, based on a tiny cohort, and should not be read as current performance. The main story in this ZIP code is the divergence between a high-performing elementary school and a struggling secondary school.
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