KENNEDY COMMUNITY SCHOOL

KENNEDY COMMUNITY SCHOOL is a sprawling combined-grade school in SAINT JOSEPH, Minnesota, one of the schools within ST. CLOUD PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT. The school teaches 582 students in grades pre-K through 9. That puts it 1064% larger than the typical public school in Minnesota, which averages around 50 students.

Within ST. CLOUD PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT, which oversees 22 schools and 9,803 students, KENNEDY COMMUNITY SCHOOL is one campus in the system.

Demographically, KENNEDY COMMUNITY SCHOOL reports that White students make up the majority at 59%. The remainder looks like 25% Black, 10% Hispanic, 6% multiracial. That is meaningfully less White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 82%.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Staff filings list 46 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 12.7:1 students per teacher. That figure is higher than the state norm's 6.4:1 average. Around 50% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, KENNEDY COMMUNITY SCHOOL performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 38.4%, the actual is 38.6%, a residual of +0.3 points.

In the surrounding community, ACS estimates for Stearns County put median household income runs about $77,066, 29% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 8%. KENNEDY COMMUNITY SCHOOL is one of 74 public schools in Stearns County (combined enrollment of about 24,160 students).

Central Minnesota Virtual Academy is the nearest neighboring public school, about 3.5 miles from this campus. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts KENNEDY COMMUNITY SCHOOL at 1st of 5; the average score across the group is 25.7%.

Geographically, the school is in a rural area.

Over the past 7-year window. KENNEDY COMMUNITY SCHOOL's enrollment has contracted 27% since 2018, when it stood at 799 (now 582). White enrollment moved from 78% to 59% across the same window. Class-load math has pulled in: from 16.1:1 in 2018 to 12.7:1 in 2025.

In the discussion threads here, the feed for KENNEDY COMMUNITY SCHOOL typically covers enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. The community welcomes input from current and former families.