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Best kept secret at Paynesville Area Secondary School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
465
High
DISTRICT 447 · STATE 371
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PAYNESVILLE AREA SCHOOLS·NCES 272814001239
Paynesville Area Secondary School
795 BUSINESS 23 S, PAYNESVILLE, MN 56362 · (320) 243-3761 · Stearns County
GRADES 06–12HIGH42-RURALREGULAR SCHOOL465 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
14.5:1
32 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.5:1 · STATE 16.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
28%
132 students
DISTRICT 29% · STATE 48%
Community
5
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 77 | 17% |
| Grade 7 | 60 | 13% |
| Grade 8 | 59 | 13% |
| Grade 9 | 69 | 15% |
| Grade 10 | 68 | 15% |
| Grade 11 | 69 | 15% |
| Grade 12 | 63 | 14% |
Student demographics
16%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 17% · 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
School pathway
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Paynesville Area Schools. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
MCA 2024-25 . % Meets or Exceeds StandardsEnglish Language Arts
39.7%
MN avg 49.7%
Math
22.4%
MN avg 45.3%
What this means: On the MCA, Minnesota's statewide test, about 40 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 22 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
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of MN schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
29.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
49.8%
based on MN schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-19.9pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 30% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 50% typical for Minnesota schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 Paynesville Area Secondary School
Paynesville Area Secondary School's state test result (29.9% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paynesville Area Secondary School this school | 465 | 28.4% | 29.9% |
| Plainview-Elgin-Millville High PLAINVIEW | 414 | 25.8% | 48.3% |
| LAKEVIEW SECONDARY COTTONWOOD | 331 | 29.6% | 42.0% |
| OSAKIS SECONDARY OSAKIS | 415 | 32.0% | 40.9% |
| Blooming Prairie High School BLOOMING PRAIRIE | 385 | 31.7% | 36.9% |
| Murray County Central High School SLAYTON | 328 | 27.4% | 43.3% |
Matched among Minnesota high 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 Paynesville Area Secondary School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Minnesota | In Stearns County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 29.9% | #304 of 397 | #8 of 11 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 22.4% | #293 of 401 | #9 of 11 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 39.7% | #279 of 397 | #8 of 11 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 465 | #181 of 764 | #9 of 17 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.5:1 | #86 of 332 | #3 of 12 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 16.4% | #284 of 338 | #8 of 12 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 28.4% | #314 of 444 | #7 of 12 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +53.5% | #10 of 181 | #1 of 8 |
Ranked against other public high 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
465
+167 (+56%) vs 2020
+26% since 1990-91, when it was 370
Student : Teacher
14.5:1
was 19.9:1
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 | 465 | 32 | 14.5:1 | 28% (132) |
| 2023-24 | 484 | 33 | 14.7:1 | 30% (144) |
| 2022-23 | 489 | 22.4 | 21.8:1 | 31% (154) |
| 2020-21 | 298 | 15 | 19.9:1 | 23% (69) |
| 2017-18 | 303 | 18.7 | 16.3:1 | 32% (97) |
| 2015-16 | 274 | 19 | 14.4:1 | 26% (71) |
| 2010-11 | 307 | 21 | 14.6:1 | 32% (99) |
| 2000-01 | 434 | 28 | 15.5:1 | 22% (97) |
| 1990-91 | 370 | 24 | 15.4:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Paynesville Area Secondary School.
Since 2017-18: students up 53% (303 to 465); teachers up 71% (18.7 to 32).
About Paynesville Area Secondary School
In PAYNESVILLE, Minnesota, part of Stearns County, Paynesville Area Secondary School is a high school. It enrolls 465 students in 2024-25. The grades offered are 6 through 12. That puts enrollment 25% bigger than the 371-student average for high schools in Minnesota.
Paynesville Area Schools includes 2 schools. Together they enroll 894 students.
Of every 100 students at Paynesville Area Secondary School, about 91 are White. After that, the student body is 6% Hispanic. Census figures show Stearns County is about 82% White. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 16, compared with 70 nationally.
A staff of 32 full-time-equivalent teachers puts the student-to-teacher ratio at 14.5:1. Across high schools in Minnesota, the average ratio is 16.3:1. The share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch is 28%. The gap from the 44% average for public schools in Stearns County is 16 points.
Compared with Minnesota schools that have similar shares of low-income students, Paynesville Area Secondary School scores 19.9 points lower than predicted. Its average proficiency rate across its state test results is 29.9%; the prediction is 49.8%.
Stearns County is the school's county. There, the median household earns about $77,066 a year, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 29% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 8%. Public schools in Stearns County number 74, with about 24,160 students.
WCED 18-22 Program, about 0.2 miles away, is the closest public school. A five-mile radius around the school includes 2 other public schools. By average proficiency, Paynesville Area Secondary School is 7th among 7 schools close by.
Federal data place Paynesville Area Secondary School in the Rural: Distant locale, which means it is in rural territory some distance from an urban area.
In 2020-21 the school reported 298 students, and in 2024-25 it reported 465. Grade changes, mergers, or boundary shifts can explain gaps this large. By 2024-25, the school had 14.5 students per teacher, compared with 19.9 in 2020-21.
On allk12, people connected to Paynesville Area Secondary School can post about special education services, counseling, and support programs. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Stearns County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
160,865
Census ACS
Median income
$77,066
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
29%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
8%
Below federal line
Schools in county
74
24,160 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Paynesville Area Schools
- Paynesville Area ElementaryElementary · 429 students
- PAYNESVILLE MIDDLECombined
Other schools in PAYNESVILLE
- Paynesville Area ElementaryElementary · 429 students
- WCED 18-22 ProgramHigh · 10 students
- PAYNESVILLE MIDDLECombined
Nearby schools
- WCED 18-22 Program0.2 mi · 10
- Paynesville Area Elementary0.6 mi · 429
- EDEN VALLEY SECONDARY9.5 mi · 425
- EDEN VALLEY ELEMENTARY9.8 mi · 383
- RICHMOND ELEMENTARY11.7 mi · 135
- NEW LONDON-SPICER MIDDLE11.9 mi · 454
Frequently asked questions
About Paynesville Area Secondary SchoolHow large is Paynesville Area Secondary School?
Paynesville Area Secondary School enrolls approximately 465 students in grades 06-12.
What grades does Paynesville Area Secondary School serve?
Paynesville Area Secondary School serves grades 06-12.
How many teachers does Paynesville Area Secondary School have?
Paynesville Area Secondary School employs 32 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 14.5:1.
What is the student diversity at Paynesville Area Secondary School?
Student demographics at Paynesville Area Secondary School are roughly 91% White, 6% Hispanic, 0% Black, 2% Two or more.
What district is Paynesville Area Secondary School in?
Paynesville Area Secondary School is part of Paynesville Area Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.