Enrollment
249
Elementary
DISTRICT 295 · STATE 344
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BRAINERD PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 270609000257
NISSWA ELEMENTARY
5533 LAKERS LANE, NISSWA, MN 56468 · (218) 961-6860 · Crow Wing County
GRADES PK–04ELEMENTARY42-RURALREGULAR SCHOOL249 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 87% of Minnesota public elementary schools
- ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A-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 elementary schools
Student : Teacher
13.8:1
18 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 11.8:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
27%
68 students
DISTRICT 49% · STATE 48%
Community
0
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 | 46 | 18% |
| Grade 1 | 45 | 18% |
| Grade 2 | 54 | 22% |
| Grade 3 | 55 | 22% |
| Grade 4 | 49 | 20% |
This year's kindergarten class (46) is 6% smaller than its 4th grade class (49).
Student demographics
12%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 22% · 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
Test scores
MCA 2024-25 . % Meets or Exceeds StandardsEnglish Language Arts
55.3%
MN avg 49.7%
Math
72.8%
MN avg 45.3%
What this means: On the MCA, Minnesota's statewide test, about 55 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 73 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
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
61.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
50.4%
based on MN schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+11.3pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 62% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 50% typical for Minnesota schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Minnesota's top nor bottom 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 NISSWA ELEMENTARY
NISSWA ELEMENTARY's state test result (61.7% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| NISSWA ELEMENTARY this school | 249 | 27.3% | 61.7% |
| MINNEOTA ELEMENTARY MINNEOTA | 258 | 26.7% | 65.5% |
| CALEDONIA ELEMENTARY CALEDONIA | 295 | 30.8% | 65.2% |
| Pike Lake Elementary DULUTH | 293 | 23.2% | 60.9% |
| Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton Elem JANESVILLE | 317 | 24.9% | 59.7% |
| ROTHSAY ELEMENTARY ROTHSAY | 194 | 30.4% | 46.8% |
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 NISSWA ELEMENTARY ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Minnesota | In Crow Wing County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 61.7% | #112 of 844 | #3 of 10 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 72.8% | #82 of 844 | #2 of 10 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 55.3% | #291 of 844 | #3 of 10 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 249 | #721 of 1,130 | #7 of 12 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.8:1 | #415 of 769 | #6 of 8 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 12.3% | #746 of 796 | #8 of 9 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 27.3% | #717 of 942 | #12 of 12 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -18.1% | #178 of 499 | #4 of 8 |
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
249
-11 (-4%) vs 2020
-6% since 1990-91, when it was 266
Student : Teacher
13.8:1
was 13.7:1
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 | 249 | 18 | 13.8:1 | 27% (68) |
| 2023-24 | 255 | 20.6 | 12.4:1 | 30% (76) |
| 2022-23 | 264 | 20.6 | 12.8:1 | 34% (89) |
| 2020-21 | 260 | 19 | 13.7:1 | 27% (69) |
| 2017-18 | 304 | 20.1 | 15.1:1 | 27% (82) |
| 2015-16 | 280 | 16 | 17.5:1 | 28% (78) |
| 2010-11 | 281 | 18 | 15.6:1 | 33% (93) |
| 2000-01 | 311 | 18 | 17.3:1 | 19% (58) |
| 1990-91 | 266 | 17 | 15.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for NISSWA ELEMENTARY.
Since 2017-18: students down 18% (304 to 249); teachers down 11% (20.1 to 18).
About NISSWA ELEMENTARY
NISSWA ELEMENTARY is an elementary school located in NISSWA, Minnesota, in Crow Wing County. A total of 249 students attend the school, which covers pre-K through 4. The average for elementary schools in Minnesota is about 344 students, so this school is 28% smaller than average.
NISSWA ELEMENTARY is among 13 schools run by BRAINERD PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT, which serves 6,079 students.
White students are the large majority at NISSWA ELEMENTARY, with 94% of enrollment. The remaining shares are 4% multiracial. The White share in Crow Wing County as a whole is similar, at about 94%. NISSWA ELEMENTARY has a diversity index of 12%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
NISSWA ELEMENTARY operates with 18 full-time-equivalent teachers, a ratio of about 13.8:1. Across elementary schools in Minnesota, the average ratio is about 13.7:1. About 27% of students at the school meet free or reduced-price lunch income limits. That is 13 points below the 40% average for public schools in Crow Wing County.
allk12 grades NISSWA ELEMENTARY an A. The grade compares the school only with Minnesota public elementary schools, because each state gives its own test.
NISSWA ELEMENTARY is 11.3 points above its predicted average proficiency rate on state tests (61.7% versus 50.4%), which places it in neither the top nor the bottom 10% in Minnesota.
According to the American Community Survey, in Crow Wing County, median household income is about $72,589, roughly 29% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 6% of residents live below the federal poverty line. NISSWA ELEMENTARY is one of 24 public schools in Crow Wing County, which together enroll about 9,399 students.
The closest other public school is EAGLE VIEW ELEMENTARY, about 5.6 miles away. There are 3 other public schools within ten miles. NISSWA ELEMENTARY ranks 3rd of 8 among nearby schools on average proficiency, with 61.7% against a local average of 48.2%.
Locale: Rural: Distant. In NCES terms, the school is in rural territory some distance from an urban area.
From 2020-21 to 2024-25, NISSWA ELEMENTARY went from 260 students to 249.
Posts about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater are welcome on this page. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
Crow Wing County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
67,686
Census ACS
Median income
$72,589
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
29%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
24
9,399 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in BRAINERD PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT
- BRAINERD SENIOR HIGHHigh · 1,805 students
- FORESTVIEW MIDDLEMiddle · 1,626 students
- BAXTER ELEMENTARYElementary · 506 students
- RIVERSIDE ELEMENTARYElementary · 407 students
- LOWELL ELEMENTARYElementary · 355 students
- GARFIELD ELEMENTARYElementary · 250 students
Nearby schools
- EAGLE VIEW ELEMENTARY5.6 mi · 557
- PEQUOT LAKES MIDDLE5.7 mi · 581
- PEQUOT LAKES SENIOR HIGH5.7 mi · 599
- Discovery Woods11.7 mi · 101
- LOWELL ELEMENTARY11.7 mi · 355
- GARFIELD ELEMENTARY11.7 mi · 250
Frequently asked questions
About NISSWA ELEMENTARYHow many students attend NISSWA ELEMENTARY?
NISSWA ELEMENTARY enrolls approximately 249 students in grades PK-04.
What grades does NISSWA ELEMENTARY serve?
NISSWA ELEMENTARY serves grades PK-04.
How many teachers does NISSWA ELEMENTARY have?
NISSWA ELEMENTARY employs 18 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 13.8:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at NISSWA ELEMENTARY?
At NISSWA ELEMENTARY, the student body is approximately 94% White, 2% Hispanic, 0% Black, 4% Two or more.
What district is NISSWA ELEMENTARY in?
NISSWA ELEMENTARY is part of BRAINERD PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.