McKinley Elementary

As a large elementary school in HAM LAKE, Minnesota, McKinley Elementary instructs 636 students from grades K through 5, operated by Anoka-Hennepin School District. Compared to the state average of about 344 students per school, that is 85% above typical.

Within Anoka-Hennepin School District, which oversees 53 schools and 38,746 students, McKinley Elementary is one campus in the system.

On the student-mix side, McKinley Elementary shows that 81% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority; the rest breaks down as 8% Asian, 7% multiracial, 3% Hispanic, 2% Black.

Looking at the economic backdrop, McKinley Elementary reports 37 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 17.3:1. That figure is higher than the state norm's 13.7:1 average. About 18% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. That share is noticeably below Anoka County's rate of about 42%.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), McKinley Elementary tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 55.2% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 65.6%.

In the surrounding community, census data for Anoka County shows median household income runs about $101,869, roughly 32% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 5%. Across Anoka County's 145 public schools (combined enrollment of about 59,656 students), McKinley Elementary is one campus in the mix.

The closest other public school is Crossroads East, roughly 3.4 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, McKinley Elementary comes 2nd of 6 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 50.7%.

The school occupies a low-density site.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count decreased 13%: 733 students in 2018 compared to 636 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share edged down from 90% to 81%. The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 20.4:1 in 2018 to 17.3:1 today.

Inside the community feed, posts here usually surface around open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.