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Which teacher or staff member at Highland Elementary deserves more recognition?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
474
Elementary
DISTRICT 181 · STATE 344
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CROOKSTON PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 270972000414
Highland Elementary
801 N CENTRAL AVE, CROOKSTON, MN 56716 · (218) 281-5600 · Polk County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY32-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL474 STUDENTS
B+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 71% of Minnesota public elementary schools
- BTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- ABeats 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 elementary schools
Student : Teacher
12.6:1
38 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.3:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
58%
274 students
DISTRICT 60% · STATE 48%
Community
5
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 79 | 17% |
| Grade 1 | 80 | 17% |
| Grade 2 | 89 | 19% |
| Grade 3 | 72 | 15% |
| Grade 4 | 81 | 17% |
| Grade 5 | 73 | 15% |
This year's kindergarten class (79) is 8% larger than its 5th grade class (73).
Student demographics
58%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 56% · 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 Crookston Public School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
MCA 2024-25 . % Meets or Exceeds StandardsEnglish Language Arts
52.7%
MN avg 49.7%
Math
54.0%
MN avg 45.3%
What this means: On the MCA, Minnesota's statewide test, about 53 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 54 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
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of MN schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
47.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
34.0%
based on MN schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+13.6pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 48% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 34% typical for Minnesota schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 14 points, placing it in Minnesota's top 10%.
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 Highland Elementary
Highland Elementary's state test result (47.6% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highland Elementary this school | 474 | 57.8% | 47.6% |
| WILSON ELEMENTARY OWATONNA | 454 | 58.8% | 33.0% |
| VIKING ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PELICAN RAPIDS | 468 | 57.7% | 45.5% |
| Bancroft Elementary MINNEAPOLIS | 477 | 56.4% | 40.2% |
| Lincoln Center Elementary SOUTH SAINT PAUL | 670 | 56.1% | 34.6% |
| Lakeview Elementary ALBERT LEA | 400 | 52.3% | 40.8% |
Matched among Minnesota elementary 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 Highland Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Minnesota | In Polk County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 47.6% | #384 of 844 | #4 of 6 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 54.0% | #380 of 844 | #3 of 6 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 52.7% | #347 of 844 | #4 of 6 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 474 | #338 of 1,130 | #2 of 10 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.6:1 | #242 of 769 | #3 of 6 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 57.9% | #297 of 796 | #1 of 6 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 57.8% | #244 of 942 | #2 of 7 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +6.5% | #145 of 244 | N/A |
Ranked against other public elementary 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
474
+5 (+1%) vs 2020
-25% since 1990-91, when it was 632
Student : Teacher
12.6:1
was 14.2:1
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 | 474 | 37.5 | 12.6:1 | 58% (274) |
| 2023-24 | 392 | 31.9 | 12.3:1 | 66% (259) |
| 2022-23 | 435 | 36.3 | 12.0:1 | 66% (287) |
| 2020-21 | 469 | 33 | 14.2:1 | 54% (253) |
| 2017-18 | 445 | 31.2 | 14.3:1 | 54% (242) |
| 2015-16 | 488 | 31 | 15.7:1 | 51% (250) |
| 2010-11 | 452 | 31 | 14.6:1 | 49% (220) |
| 2000-01 | 430 | 24 | 17.9:1 | 44% (190) |
| 1990-91 | 632 | 40 | 15.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Highland Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students up 7% (445 to 474); teachers up 20% (31.2 to 37.5).
About Highland Elementary
Highland Elementary, a medium-sized elementary school, is located in CROOKSTON, Minnesota. A total of 474 students attend the school, which covers kindergarten through 5. Against the 344-student average for elementary schools in Minnesota, enrollment here is 38% higher.
Crookston Public School District enrolls 1,140 students in 5 schools, including Highland Elementary.
Highland Elementary is 58% White by enrollment. Smaller groups are 29% Hispanic, 5% multiracial, 5% Native American, and 4% Black. County-wide, 86% of Polk County residents are White. The school's diversity index is 58%, meaning two students picked at random have a 58% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
At Highland Elementary, 37.5 full-time-equivalent teachers work with students, a ratio of about 12.6:1. On average, elementary schools in Minnesota have 13.7:1, compared with 12.6:1 here. Students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch make up 58% of enrollment. That is higher than the 43% average for public schools in Polk County.
The allk12 Grade for Highland Elementary is B+. Compared with Minnesota public elementary schools, the school scored higher than 71% on a mix of test scores, poverty-adjusted results, and recent trend.
On a poverty-adjusted basis, Highland Elementary is in the top 10% of Minnesota schools: 47.6% actual against 34.0% predicted.
Recent Census Bureau figures for Polk County show that the median household income is $73,107, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 28%, and roughly 6% of residents are in poverty. Besides Highland Elementary, Polk County has 19 other public schools.
Crookston Secondary is the nearest neighboring public school, about 1.0 miles away. Within five miles of Highland Elementary, there are 4 other public schools. Among its closest neighbors with test data, Highland Elementary is 1st of 6 on proficiency.
On the NCES locale scale, the school is Town: Distant.
Federal data show 469 students in 2020-21 and 474 in 2024-25, a difference of under 3%. The student-to-teacher ratio fell from 14.2:1 in 2020-21 to 12.6:1 in 2024-25.
Threads on this page can be about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Polk County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
30,705
Census ACS
Median income
$73,107
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
28%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
20
5,075 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Crookston Public School District
- Crookston SecondaryHigh · 592 students
- Washington ElementaryElementary · 42 students
- Crookston Pre-K ProgramElementary · 27 students
- Northern Lights AcademyHigh · 5 students
- New Paths Alternative Learning PrgmCombined
Other schools in CROOKSTON
- Crookston SecondaryHigh · 592 students
- Washington ElementaryElementary · 42 students
- Crookston Pre-K ProgramElementary · 27 students
- Northern Lights AcademyHigh · 5 students
- New Paths Alternative Learning PrgmCombined
Other Highland Elementary schools
55 other US public schools in 26 states are named Highland Elementary. Highland Elementary is the 22nd largest of the 56.
- HIGHLAND ELEMENTARYAPPLE VALLEY, MN · 662 students
- Highland ElementaryCOLUMBIA HEIGHTS, MN · 534 students
- HIGHLAND ELEMENTARY SCHOOLLAKE WORTH, FL · 976 students
- Highland ElementarySanford, NC · 854 students
- Highland Elementary SchoolMarengo, OH · 836 students
Nearby schools
- Crookston Secondary1.0 mi · 592
- Washington Elementary1.1 mi · 42
- Crookston Pre-K Program1.1 mi · 27
- Northern Lights Academy1.8 mi · 5
- Fisher Secondary9.8 mi · 99
- Fisher Elementary9.8 mi · 123
Frequently asked questions
About Highland ElementaryHow many students attend Highland Elementary?
Highland Elementary enrolls approximately 474 students in grades KG-05.
What grades does Highland Elementary serve?
Highland Elementary serves grades KG-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Highland Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Highland Elementary is approximately 12.6:1 (38 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Highland Elementary?
Student demographics at Highland Elementary are roughly 58% White, 29% Hispanic, 4% Black, 0% Asian, 5% Two or more.
What district is Highland Elementary in?
Highland Elementary is part of Crookston Public School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.