Summary:
ZIP code 56650, in Kelliher, Minnesota, is served by two public schools — Kelliher Elementary (grades PK–6, 168 students) and Kelliher Secondary (grades 7–12, 143 students) — both located at the same address and part of the Kelliher Public School District. Together they enroll 311 students, and there is no separate middle school, since grades 7–8 are housed in the secondary building. Both serve a high-poverty population, with roughly two-thirds of students eligible for free or reduced lunch (68.45% at the elementary, 67.13% at the secondary). The district as a whole ranks 347 of 458 in Minnesota, at the 24th percentile with 1 star.
Kelliher Elementary is the stronger school locally. Its 2025–2026 rank is 582 of 869, the 33rd percentile with 2 stars, up from 1 star the year before. It outperforms the district in all three subjects: Math 41.9% vs 33.1%, Reading 32.6% vs 31.4%, and Science 19.0% vs 13.8%. Its clearest bright spots are 4th grade Math at 75.0% (state 55.2%) and 4th grade Reading at 54.2% (state 48.8%). Still, the elementary school trails Minnesota in every all-grade subject, especially Reading, where it is 16.0 points below the state.
Kelliher Secondary has carried 1 star for three straight years and sits below the district in all subjects: Math 21.0%, Reading 30.0%, and Science 11.4%. Its 14.2% dropout rate is more than triple Minnesota's 4.2%, and its 76.1% graduation rate is below the state's 84.9%. Grade-level results show deep gaps, including 8th grade Science at 4.8% (state 16.7%) and 8th grade Math at 14.3% (state 42.3%); 10th grade Reading at 37.5% (state 42.5%) is the closest to state. Notably, the secondary school's lower student-teacher ratio (11.4 vs 13.4) does not translate into stronger outcomes, and the roughly 21-point math gap between the two schools has persisted across both years of data.
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