Pipestone Middle

Located at 1401 7TH ST SW, in PIPESTONE, Minnesota, Pipestone Middle is a close-knit intermediate school that teaches 244 students (grades 6 through 8), operated by Pipestone Area School District. Enrollment runs roughly 51% smaller than the state mean of about 495.

Pipestone Middle is one of 4 schools operated by Pipestone Area School District, a district that educates 1,138 students overall.

Looking at the student body, Pipestone Middle records that 65% of the student body identifies as White. The remainder is composed of 28% Hispanic, 5% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 86% White, putting the school's mix considerably less White than the area baseline.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Staff filings list 17 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 14.3:1 students per teacher. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 17.5:1, putting Pipestone Middle tighter than the state norm the norm. Around 41% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment.

With demographic context factored in, Pipestone Middle falls in the UNDERPERFORMING tier of the BeatsExpectations residual. Given its student profile, a typical campus would land near 43.0%; this one comes in at 21.6%, -21.4 points off the demographic line.

Zooming out to the county, ACS estimates for Pipestone County put median household earnings sit near $69,628, roughly 22% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 10% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Pipestone County runs 10 public schools (combined enrollment of about 1,640 students), of which Pipestone Middle is one.

Nearest neighbor: Pipestone Senior High, around 0.0 miles off. 4 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, Pipestone Middle comes 4th of 4 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 35.5%.

Pipestone Middle operates from an outlying location.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count declined 31%: 353 students in 2018 compared to 244 in 2025. Over the same period, the Hispanic share rose from 13% to 28%.

On the community side, members of the Pipestone Middle community share and discuss science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.