Enrollment
137
High
DISTRICT 130 · STATE 371
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·HERON LAKE-OKABENA SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 271393000017
Heron Lake-Okabena Secondary
124 N MINNESOTA AVE, OKABENA, MN 56161 · (507) 853-4507 · Jackson County
GRADES 07–12HIGH43-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL137 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 14% of Minnesota public high schools
- C-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Minnesota public high schools
Student : Teacher
13.7:1
10 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.1:1 · STATE 16.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
45%
62 students
DISTRICT 48% · STATE 48%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 7 | 20 | 15% |
| Grade 8 | 17 | 12% |
| Grade 9 | 31 | 23% |
| Grade 10 | 21 | 15% |
| Grade 11 | 29 | 21% |
| Grade 12 | 19 | 14% |
Student demographics
48%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 42% · STATE 60% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
School pathway
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within HERON LAKE-OKABENA SCHOOL DISTRICT. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
QUIET COMMUNITY
Be the first to start a discussion at Heron Lake-Okabena Secondary.
START A DISCUSSIONTest scores
MCA 2024-25 . % Meets or Exceeds StandardsEnglish Language Arts
32.7%
MN avg 49.7%
Math
24.5%
MN avg 45.3%
What this means: On the MCA, Minnesota's statewide test, about 33 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 25 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Minnesota schools, those numbers are about 50 and 45.
Source: MCA. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of MN schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
27.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
40.7%
based on MN schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-13.8pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 27% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 41% typical for Minnesota schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Heron Lake-Okabena Secondary
Heron Lake-Okabena Secondary's state test result (27.0% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heron Lake-Okabena Secondary this school | 137 | 45.3% | 27.0% |
| Fisher Secondary FISHER | 99 | 45.5% | 29.7% |
| Rochester Beacon Academy ROCHESTER | 115 | 43.5% | 13.2% |
| FULDA SECONDARY FULDA | 157 | 40.1% | 32.1% |
| NORTHWEST PASSAGE HIGH SCHOOL COON RAPIDS | 156 | 47.4% | 36.6% |
| Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart Seconda HECTOR | 245 | 40.8% | 39.8% |
Matched among Minnesota high schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Heron Lake-Okabena Secondary ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Minnesota |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 27.0% | #328 of 397 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 24.5% | #275 of 401 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 32.7% | #349 of 397 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 137 | #399 of 764 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 45.3% | #152 of 444 |
Ranked against other public high schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
137
-47 (-26%) vs 2020
-34% since 1990-91, when it was 208
Student : Teacher
13.7:1
was 18.4:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 137 | 10 | 13.7:1 | 45% (62) |
| 2023-24 | 158 | 11.7 | 13.5:1 | 54% (86) |
| 2022-23 | 161 | 9.7 | 16.6:1 | 52% (84) |
| 2020-21 | 184 | 10 | 18.4:1 | 41% (75) |
| 2017-18 | 151 | 15.4 | 9.8:1 | 32% (48) |
| 2015-16 | 167 | 14 | 11.9:1 | 25% (41) |
| 2010-11 | 178 | 16 | 11.1:1 | 31% (55) |
| 2000-01 | 210 | 19 | 11.1:1 | 23% (49) |
| 1990-91 | 208 | 11 | 18.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Heron Lake-Okabena Secondary.
Since 2017-18: students down 9% (151 to 137); teachers down 35% (15.4 to 10).
About Heron Lake-Okabena Secondary
In OKABENA, Minnesota, Heron Lake-Okabena Secondary is a small high school. Its 137 students are spread across grades 7 through 12. The typical figure for high schools in Minnesota is about 371 students.
Heron Lake-Okabena Secondary is part of HERON LAKE-OKABENA SCHOOL DISTRICT, where 2 schools serve 260 students.
White students are the majority at Heron Lake-Okabena Secondary, with 70% of enrollment. Other groups make up 17% Hispanic, 6% multiracial, 3% Native American, and 2% Black. Jackson County as a whole is about 91% White, so the school's share is lower. Pick two students at random and there is a 48% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.
The school reports 10 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to about 13.7 students per teacher. That is 2.7 students per teacher below the 16.3:1 average for high schools in Minnesota. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility covers 45% of students.
The allk12 Grade for Heron Lake-Okabena Secondary is D. Compared with Minnesota public high schools, the school scored higher than 14% on a mix of test scores, poverty-adjusted results, and recent trend.
On BeatsExpectations, which compares test results with what a school's student poverty level would predict, Heron Lake-Okabena Secondary ranks in the bottom 10% in Minnesota. Its average proficiency rate on state tests is 27.0%, against a prediction of 40.7%.
Among Jackson County residents, the median household income is $75,743, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 26%, and roughly 5% of residents are in poverty. Besides Heron Lake-Okabena Secondary, Jackson County has 6 other public schools.
HERON LAKE-OKABENA ELEMENTARY is the public school closest to Heron Lake-Okabena Secondary, about 3.6 miles away. There are 5 other public schools within ten miles. Ranking the closest schools with test data puts Heron Lake-Okabena Secondary at 8th of 9.
Its location is classified as Rural: Remote by the National Center for Education Statistics.
Compared with 2020-21, the school had 47 fewer students in 2024-25. Federal data show the ratio falling from 18.4:1 to 13.7:1.
Community posts for Heron Lake-Okabena Secondary can cover enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
Jackson County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
9,933
Census ACS
Median income
$75,743
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
26%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
7
1,353 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in HERON LAKE-OKABENA SCHOOL DISTRICT
- HERON LAKE-OKABENA ELEMENTARYElementary · 123 students
Nearby schools
- HERON LAKE-OKABENA ELEMENTARY3.6 mi · 123
- Round Lake-Brewster Middle School8.1 mi · 118
- Round Lake-Brewster Elementary8.1 mi · 377
- Pleasantview Elementary8.7 mi · 170
- Jackson County Central Middle8.8 mi · 241
- Windom Middle13.1 mi · 359
Frequently asked questions
About Heron Lake-Okabena SecondaryHow large is Heron Lake-Okabena Secondary?
Heron Lake-Okabena Secondary enrolls approximately 137 students in grades 07-12.
Is Heron Lake-Okabena Secondary an elementary, middle, or high school?
Heron Lake-Okabena Secondary is a high school covering grades 07-12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Heron Lake-Okabena Secondary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Heron Lake-Okabena Secondary is approximately 13.7:1 (10 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Heron Lake-Okabena Secondary?
At Heron Lake-Okabena Secondary, the student body is approximately 70% White, 17% Hispanic, 2% Black, 2% Asian, 6% Two or more.
Is Heron Lake-Okabena Secondary public or private?
Heron Lake-Okabena Secondary is a public K-12 school, overseen by HERON LAKE-OKABENA SCHOOL DISTRICT.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.