HARTLEY ELEMENTARY

HARTLEY ELEMENTARY, a mid-tier elementary campus in WASECA, Minnesota, part of WASECA PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT, enrolls 429 students, covering grades pre-K through 3. By comparison, Minnesota's public schools average about 344 students each, so HARTLEY ELEMENTARY sits 25% larger than that benchmark.

Across the 7 schools in WASECA PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT (1,752 students total), HARTLEY ELEMENTARY accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

Looking at the student body, HARTLEY ELEMENTARY shows that 72% of the student body identifies as White. The remainder consists of 19% Hispanic, 5% multiracial. By comparison, Waseca County as a whole is about 91% White, so the school skews visibly less White than its surroundings.

On the income-and-resources front, HARTLEY ELEMENTARY lists 29 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 15.0:1. The state averages around 13.7:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. About 53% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. Set against Waseca County (around 41%), the school's rate is somewhat above typical.

After controlling for student poverty, HARTLEY ELEMENTARY performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 36.4%, the actual is 45.1%, a residual of +8.8 points.

Across the wider county, ACS estimates for Waseca County put the typical household earns roughly $76,261 per year, about 21% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and roughly 4% of residents live below the federal poverty line. HARTLEY ELEMENTARY is one of 13 public schools in Waseca County (combined enrollment of about 2,915 students).

The closest other public school is Waseca Early Childhood, roughly 0.4 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts HARTLEY ELEMENTARY at 1st of 4; the average score across the group is 35.8%.

The school occupies a town-center site.

Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at HARTLEY ELEMENTARY has shrank 7%, going from 461 students in 2018 to 429 in 2025. The Hispanic share of enrollment grew from 12% to 19% over that span.

Within the allk12 community for this school, posts here usually surface around open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.