INDEPENDENCE ELEMENTARY

INDEPENDENCE ELEMENTARY operates as a sprawling elementary-level community in BIG LAKE, Minnesota, part of BIG LAKE PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT. Current enrollment sits at 758 students spanning grades 3 through 5. Enrollment runs roughly 120% larger than the state mean of about 344.

INDEPENDENCE ELEMENTARY is one of 6 schools operated by BIG LAKE PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT, a district that instructs 3,190 students overall.

Looking at the student body, INDEPENDENCE ELEMENTARY records that 78% of the student body identifies as White. Beyond that, the school logs 8% Hispanic, 6% multiracial, 4% Black, 2% Asian. By comparison, Sherburne County as a whole is about 87% White, so the school skews noticeably less White than its surroundings.

Looking at the economic backdrop, INDEPENDENCE ELEMENTARY logs 49 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 15.3:1. That figure is higher than the state norm's 13.7:1 average. An estimated 35% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy.

After controlling for student poverty, INDEPENDENCE ELEMENTARY performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 46.1%, the actual is 46.3%, a residual of +0.2 points.

Around the school, Sherburne County reports that median household earnings sit near $105,466, roughly 30% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 3%. INDEPENDENCE ELEMENTARY is one of 45 public schools in Sherburne County (combined enrollment of about 16,306 students).

Nearest neighbor: BIG LAKE MIDDLE SCHOOL, around 0.1 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, INDEPENDENCE ELEMENTARY comes 2nd of 4 in the immediate cluster, ahead of the nearby-schools average of 42.4%.

INDEPENDENCE ELEMENTARY operates from a small-town location.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count stayed largely flat: 753 students in 2018 compared to 758 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 84% to 78% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio pulled in from 17.3:1 in 2018 to 15.3:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.