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Which teacher or staff member at PINE RIVER-BACKUS ELEMENTARY deserves more recognition?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
478
Elementary
DISTRICT 302 · STATE 344
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PINE RIVER-BACKUS SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 272897000039
PINE RIVER-BACKUS ELEMENTARY
401 MURRAY AVE, PINE RIVER, MN 56474 · (218) 587-4447 · Cass County
GRADES PK–06ELEMENTARY43-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL478 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
12.9:1
37 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.0:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
68%
325 students
DISTRICT 61% · STATE 48%
Community
5
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 59 | 12% |
| Kindergarten | 63 | 13% |
| Grade 1 | 51 | 11% |
| Grade 2 | 61 | 13% |
| Grade 3 | 60 | 13% |
| Grade 4 | 58 | 12% |
| Grade 5 | 77 | 16% |
| Grade 6 | 49 | 10% |
This year's kindergarten class (63) is 29% larger than its 6th grade class (49).
Student demographics
19%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 16% · 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
57.7%
MN avg 49.7%
Math
45.1%
MN avg 45.3%
What this means: On the MCA, Minnesota's statewide test, about 58 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 45 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
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of MN schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
48.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
28.5%
based on MN schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+19.6pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 48% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 29% typical for Minnesota schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 20 points, placing it in Minnesota's top 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 PINE RIVER-BACKUS ELEMENTARY
PINE RIVER-BACKUS ELEMENTARY's state test result (48.1% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| PINE RIVER-BACKUS ELEMENTARY this school | 478 | 68.0% | 48.1% |
| BLACKDUCK ELEMENTARY BLACKDUCK | 412 | 60.9% | 35.0% |
| VANDYKE ELEMENTARY COLERAINE | 377 | 59.2% | 48.7% |
| RIVERSIDE ELEMENTARY BRAINERD | 407 | 57.5% | 44.9% |
| MAGELSSEN ELEMENTARY FOSSTON | 340 | 58.5% | 50.7% |
| BAGLEY ELEMENTARY BAGLEY | 482 | 59.1% | 32.5% |
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 PINE RIVER-BACKUS ELEMENTARY ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Minnesota |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 48.1% | #371 of 844 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 45.1% | #505 of 844 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 57.7% | #243 of 844 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 478 | #331 of 1,130 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.9:1 | #278 of 769 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 19.1% | #683 of 796 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 68.0% | #174 of 942 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -12.6% | #270 of 499 |
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
478
+9 (+2%) vs 2020
+15% since 2000-01, when it was 417
Student : Teacher
12.9:1
was 12.7:1
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 | 478 | 37.2 | 12.9:1 | 68% (325) |
| 2023-24 | 477 | 39.1 | 12.2:1 | 69% (327) |
| 2022-23 | 477 | 37.9 | 12.6:1 | 70% (333) |
| 2020-21 | 469 | 37 | 12.7:1 | 45% (212) |
| 2017-18 | 547 | 40 | 13.7:1 | 56% (306) |
| 2015-16 | 519 | 38 | 13.7:1 | 64% (331) |
| 2010-11 | 464 | 33 | 14.1:1 | 67% (313) |
| 2000-01 | 417 | 32 | 13.0:1 | 55% (231) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for PINE RIVER-BACKUS ELEMENTARY.
Since 2017-18: students down 13% (547 to 478); teachers down 7% (40 to 37.2).
About PINE RIVER-BACKUS ELEMENTARY
Students in PINE RIVER, Minnesota, attend PINE RIVER-BACKUS ELEMENTARY, a mid-sized elementary school. It is open to students in pre-K through 6 and enrolls 478 students. It has 39% more students than the average for elementary schools in Minnesota (about 344).
PINE RIVER-BACKUS SCHOOL DISTRICT has 906 students in 3 schools, and PINE RIVER-BACKUS ELEMENTARY is one of those schools.
Roughly 90% of students at PINE RIVER-BACKUS ELEMENTARY are White. The remaining students are 5% multiracial and 3% Hispanic. Among people living in Cass County, the White share is about 81%. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, PINE RIVER-BACKUS ELEMENTARY scores 19%.
The school has 37.2 full-time-equivalent teachers and a ratio of 12.9 students per teacher. Statewide, elementary schools in Minnesota average 13.7:1. Of all students at PINE RIVER-BACKUS ELEMENTARY, 68% are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
BeatsExpectations places PINE RIVER-BACKUS ELEMENTARY in the top 10% of Minnesota schools. The measure fits a line through proficiency and free or reduced-price lunch share for each state, and this school sits 19.6 points above it (48.1% actual, 28.5% predicted).
Looking at the county, Cass County, median household income comes to about $68,874, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 26% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 9%. The county's public schools total 21, with about 4,570 students.
Measured in a straight line, PINE RIVER-BACKUS HIGH SCHOOL is less than a tenth of a mile from PINE RIVER-BACKUS ELEMENTARY. Within five miles are 2 other public schools. Of 6 schools in the immediate area with test results, PINE RIVER-BACKUS ELEMENTARY ranks 3rd on average proficiency.
Locale data from NCES put PINE RIVER-BACKUS ELEMENTARY in rural territory far from an urban area (Rural: Remote).
Enrollment was essentially flat over 4 years: 469 in 2020-21, 478 in 2024-25.
People who know PINE RIVER-BACKUS ELEMENTARY can post here about homework, tutoring, and testing dates. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Cass County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
30,992
Census ACS
Median income
$68,874
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
26%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
9%
Below federal line
Schools in county
21
4,570 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in PINE RIVER-BACKUS SCHOOL DISTRICT
- PINE RIVER-BACKUS HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 371 students
- Pine River-Backus ALPHigh · 57 students
- Pine River-Backus Midlevel ALPMiddle
Other schools in PINE RIVER
- PINE RIVER-BACKUS HIGH SCHOOLHigh · 371 students
- Pine River-Backus ALPHigh · 57 students
- Pine River-Backus Midlevel ALPMiddle
Nearby schools
- PINE RIVER-BACKUS HIGH SCHOOL0.1 mi · 371
- Pine River-Backus ALP0.2 mi · 57
- PEQUOT LAKES SENIOR HIGH9.7 mi · 599
- PEQUOT LAKES MIDDLE9.7 mi · 581
- EAGLE VIEW ELEMENTARY11.0 mi · 557
- Crosslake Community 6-12 Online14.6 mi · 311
Frequently asked questions
About PINE RIVER-BACKUS ELEMENTARYHow many students attend PINE RIVER-BACKUS ELEMENTARY?
PINE RIVER-BACKUS ELEMENTARY enrolls approximately 478 students in grades PK-06.
What age range does PINE RIVER-BACKUS ELEMENTARY serve?
PINE RIVER-BACKUS ELEMENTARY serves students from grade PK through grade 06.
How many teachers does PINE RIVER-BACKUS ELEMENTARY have?
PINE RIVER-BACKUS ELEMENTARY employs 37 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 12.9:1.
What is the student diversity at PINE RIVER-BACKUS ELEMENTARY?
Student demographics at PINE RIVER-BACKUS ELEMENTARY are roughly 90% White, 3% Hispanic, 0% Black, 1% Asian, 5% Two or more.
Who oversees PINE RIVER-BACKUS ELEMENTARY?
PINE RIVER-BACKUS ELEMENTARY is overseen by PINE RIVER-BACKUS SCHOOL DISTRICT in Cass County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.