NORTHWINDS ELEMENTARY

NORTHWINDS ELEMENTARY, a medium-sized elementary school in BUFFALO, Minnesota, overseen by Buffalo-Hanover-Montrose Schools, serves 419 students, covering grades K through 5. Compared to the state average of about 344 students per school, that is 22% larger than typical.

Buffalo-Hanover-Montrose Schools comprises 10 schools with combined enrollment of 5,175 students; NORTHWINDS ELEMENTARY is among them.

Looking at the student body, NORTHWINDS ELEMENTARY lists that the student body is overwhelmingly White (94%); the rest is composed of 2% Hispanic.

On the resource side, Staff filings list 28 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 14.8:1 students per teacher. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 13.7:1, putting NORTHWINDS ELEMENTARY higher than the state norm the norm. About 26% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment.

With demographic context factored in, NORTHWINDS ELEMENTARY performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 51.2%, the actual is 52.2%, a residual of +1.0 points.

In the surrounding community, community-level numbers for Wright County indicate median household income runs about $107,209, about 34% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 4%. NORTHWINDS ELEMENTARY is one of 88 public schools in Wright County (combined enrollment of about 27,879 students).

The closest other public school is BUFFALO COMMUNITY MIDDLE, roughly 1.0 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 4 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), NORTHWINDS ELEMENTARY ranks 1st on composite proficiency, above the local average of 44.2%.

The campus sits in a small-town setting.

Looking at the recent track record. NORTHWINDS ELEMENTARY's enrollment has contracted 23% since 2018, when it stood at 547 (now 419). The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 16.4:1 in 2018 to 14.8:1 today.

Inside the community feed, recent activity here tends to focus on school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. The community welcomes input from current and former families.