Columbus Elementary

Located at 17345 NOTRE DAME ST, in FOREST LAKE, Minnesota, Columbus Elementary is a mid-sized elementary campus that works with 441 students (grades pre-K through 6), overseen by Forest Lake Public School District. That puts it 28% larger than the typical public school in Minnesota, which averages around 344 students.

Across the 14 schools in Forest Lake Public School District (5,776 students total), Columbus Elementary accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

Demographically, Columbus Elementary logs that the student body is overwhelmingly White (81%). Beyond that, the school shows 12% Asian, 3% Hispanic, 3% multiracial.

On the resource side, Staff filings list 22 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 20.1:1 students per teacher. That figure is higher than the state norm's 13.7:1 average. An estimated 18% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. Set against Anoka County (around 42%), the school's rate is meaningfully below typical.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Columbus Elementary sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 55.2%; this one delivers 58.0%.

In the broader community, community-level numbers for Anoka County indicate median household earnings sit near $101,869, about 32% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 5%. In all, Anoka County runs 145 public schools (combined enrollment of about 59,656 students), of which Columbus Elementary is one.

Nearest neighbor: North Lakes Academy Middle School, around 1.7 miles off. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools.

The campus sits in a countryside setting.

Five-year trend. Columbus Elementary's enrollment has ticked up 21% since 2018, when it stood at 364 (now 441). The Asian share of enrollment climbed from 6% to 12% over that span.

In the discussion threads here, members of the Columbus Elementary community share and discuss sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.