PINE HILL ELEMENTARY

As a mid-sized elementary-level community in COTTAGE GROVE, Minnesota, PINE HILL ELEMENTARY caters to 502 students from grades K through 5, operated by South Washington County Schools. That puts it 46% above the typical public school in Minnesota, which averages around 344 students.

Within South Washington County Schools, which oversees 28 schools and 19,578 students, PINE HILL ELEMENTARY is one campus in the system.

On the student-mix side, PINE HILL ELEMENTARY reports that the largest single group is White, at 59% of enrollment; the rest looks like 14% Asian, 10% Hispanic, 10% Black, 7% multiracial. That is visibly less White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 78%.

Looking at the economic backdrop, On paper, PINE HILL ELEMENTARY has 38 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 13.1:1. The state averages about 13.7:1, putting this campus right in line with peers. Roughly 27% of students at PINE HILL ELEMENTARY qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator.

After controlling for student poverty, On a poverty-adjusted basis, PINE HILL ELEMENTARY sits in the bottom 10% statewide. Predicted proficiency from the FRL regression is roughly 50.4%; actual is 35.2%, a gap of -15.2 points.

Around the school, census data for Washington County shows the typical household earns roughly $115,345 per year, roughly 49% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 4%. In all, Washington County runs 103 public schools (combined enrollment of about 46,313 students), of which PINE HILL ELEMENTARY is one.

Nearest neighbor: Next Step Transition Program, around 1.0 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts PINE HILL ELEMENTARY at 3rd of 5; the average score across the group is 37.3%.

Geographically, the school is in a suburban area.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count increased 20%: 420 students in 2018 compared to 502 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share ticked down from 66% to 59%.

In the discussion threads here, members of the PINE HILL ELEMENTARY community share and discuss enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. The community welcomes input from current and former families.