First Step Adams

Set in ADAMS, Minnesota, First Step Adams is an one-room-style K-5 school, one of the schools within Southern MN Education Consortium. It enrolls 9 students across grade pre-K. That puts it 97% smaller than the typical public school in Minnesota, which averages around 344 students.

First Step Adams is one of 13 schools operated by Southern MN Education Consortium, a district that educates 181 students overall.

In terms of who attends, First Step Adams records that 100% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority. That is noticeably more White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 75%.

On the resource side, The school reports having 1 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 9.0:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 13.7:1 average. Roughly 67% of students at First Step Adams qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. By comparison, Mower County runs at roughly 55%, so the school's eligibility rate is higher than the surrounding baseline.

Across the wider county, community-level numbers for Mower County indicate median household income runs about $73,074, roughly 24% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Mower County's 34 public schools (combined enrollment of about 7,434 students), First Step Adams is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: Southland Elementary, around 0.2 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 3 other public schools cluster around First Step Adams.

First Step Adams operates from an outlying location.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count declined 47%: 17 students in 2018 compared to 9 in 2025. The White share of enrollment expanded from 88% to 100% over that span.

On allk12, the feed for First Step Adams typically covers sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.