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What advice would you give to incoming students at PRAIRIE WIND MIDDLE?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
526
Middle
DISTRICT 418 · STATE 495
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PERHAM-DENT PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 272823002535
PRAIRIE WIND MIDDLE
480 CONEY ST WEST, PERHAM, MN 56573 · (218) 346-1700 · Otter Tail County
GRADES 05–08MIDDLE43-RURALREGULAR SCHOOL526 STUDENTS
B
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 60% of Minnesota public middle schools
- BTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- B-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Minnesota public middle schools
Student : Teacher
15.8:1
33 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.2:1 · STATE 17.5:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
34%
180 students
DISTRICT 40% · STATE 48%
Community
5
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 5 | 128 | 24% |
| Grade 6 | 117 | 22% |
| Grade 7 | 142 | 27% |
| Grade 8 | 139 | 26% |
Student demographics
34%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 33% · 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
Students here typically continue to
PRAIRIE WIND MIDDLE→PERHAM SENIOR HIGH
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within PERHAM-DENT PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
MCA 2024-25 . % Meets or Exceeds StandardsEnglish Language Arts
55.6%
MN avg 49.7%
Math
42.7%
MN avg 45.3%
What this means: On the MCA, Minnesota's statewide test, about 56 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 43 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
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
44.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
46.7%
based on MN schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-2.6pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 44% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 47% typical for Minnesota schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Minnesota's top nor bottom 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 PRAIRIE WIND MIDDLE
PRAIRIE WIND MIDDLE's state test result (44.1% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| PRAIRIE WIND MIDDLE this school | 526 | 34.2% | 44.1% |
| DILWORTH-GLYNDON-FELTON MIDDLE SCH GLYNDON | 508 | 33.1% | 41.2% |
| Litchfield Middle School LITCHFIELD | 494 | 35.0% | 44.6% |
| New Ulm Middle School NEW ULM | 617 | 33.5% | 47.0% |
| BIG LAKE MIDDLE SCHOOL BIG LAKE | 632 | 35.0% | 46.3% |
| FRANKLIN MIDDLE THIEF RIVER FALLS | 454 | 38.8% | 33.9% |
Matched among Minnesota middle 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 PRAIRIE WIND MIDDLE ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Minnesota |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 44.1% | #97 of 245 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 42.7% | #114 of 245 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 55.6% | #72 of 245 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 526 | #141 of 306 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.8:1 | #73 of 210 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 33.9% | #145 of 216 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 34.2% | #134 of 252 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +17.1% | #15 of 66 |
Ranked against other public middle 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
526
+46 (+10%) vs 2020
-5% since 2000-01, when it was 554
Student : Teacher
15.8:1
was 24.0:1
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 | 526 | 33.2 | 15.8:1 | 34% (180) |
| 2023-24 | 529 | 29.4 | 18.0:1 | 36% (192) |
| 2022-23 | 515 | 25.7 | 20.0:1 | 37% (193) |
| 2020-21 | 480 | 20 | 24.0:1 | 27% (128) |
| 2017-18 | 449 | 26.8 | 16.8:1 | 37% (167) |
| 2015-16 | 438 | 27 | 16.2:1 | 42% (182) |
| 2010-11 | 445 | 26 | 17.1:1 | 44% (198) |
| 2000-01 | 554 | 36 | 15.4:1 | 31% (171) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for PRAIRIE WIND MIDDLE.
Since 2017-18: students up 17% (449 to 526); teachers up 24% (26.8 to 33.2).
About PRAIRIE WIND MIDDLE
As a mid-sized middle school, PRAIRIE WIND MIDDLE serves students in PERHAM, Minnesota. It reports enrollment of 526 students in grades 5 through 8.
The district, PERHAM-DENT PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT, has 1,671 students enrolled across 4 schools.
By race and ethnicity, PRAIRIE WIND MIDDLE is 80% White. The remaining shares are 10% Hispanic and 5% multiracial. Otter Tail County as a whole is about 91% White, so the school's share is lower. A diversity index of 34% means there is a 34% chance two randomly chosen students at PRAIRIE WIND MIDDLE are from different groups.
On staff are 33.2 full-time-equivalent teachers; the student-to-teacher ratio is 15.8:1. Statewide, middle schools in Minnesota average 17.5:1. PRAIRIE WIND MIDDLE has a free or reduced-price lunch rate of 34%.
PRAIRIE WIND MIDDLE earns a B on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 60% of Minnesota public middle schools.
Predicted from its free or reduced-price lunch share, PRAIRIE WIND MIDDLE would score about 46.7%. It scores 44.1%, 2.6 points below that figure.
The school's county is Otter Tail County. According to Census Bureau estimates, median household income comes to about $72,255, 28% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 5% of people live in poverty. There are 37 public schools in the county, enrolling about 8,503, PRAIRIE WIND MIDDLE among them.
PRAIRIE WIND MIDDLE's closest public school neighbor is PERHAM SENIOR HIGH, less than a tenth of a mile away. A five-mile radius around the school includes 3 other public schools. PRAIRIE WIND MIDDLE ranks 7th of 8 among nearby schools on average proficiency, with 44.1% against a local average of 48.9%.
On the NCES locale scale, the school is Rural: Remote.
A 10% gain took enrollment from 480 in 2020-21 to 526 in 2024-25. Staffing shifted too: the ratio moved from 24.0:1 to 15.8:1.
You can use this page to share news and ask questions about homework, tutoring, and testing dates. You can also rate the school on this page.
Otter Tail County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
60,475
Census ACS
Median income
$72,255
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
28%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
37
8,503 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in PERHAM-DENT PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT
- HEART OF THE LAKE ELEMENTARYElementary · 578 students
- PERHAM SENIOR HIGHHigh · 529 students
- PERHAM AREA LEARNING CENTERHigh · 38 students
Other schools in PERHAM
- HEART OF THE LAKE ELEMENTARYElementary · 578 students
- PERHAM SENIOR HIGHHigh · 529 students
- PERHAM AREA LEARNING CENTERHigh · 38 students
Nearby schools
- PERHAM SENIOR HIGH0.1 mi · 529
- PERHAM AREA LEARNING CENTER0.1 mi · 38
- HEART OF THE LAKE ELEMENTARY0.1 mi · 578
- NEW YORK MILLS SECONDARY10.7 mi · 362
- NEW YORK MILLS ELEMENTARY10.7 mi · 460
- FRAZEE SECONDARY11.3 mi · 381
Frequently asked questions
About PRAIRIE WIND MIDDLEHow large is PRAIRIE WIND MIDDLE?
PRAIRIE WIND MIDDLE enrolls approximately 526 students in grades 05-08.
What age range does PRAIRIE WIND MIDDLE serve?
PRAIRIE WIND MIDDLE serves students from grade 05 through grade 08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at PRAIRIE WIND MIDDLE?
The student-to-teacher ratio at PRAIRIE WIND MIDDLE is approximately 15.8:1 (33 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at PRAIRIE WIND MIDDLE?
At PRAIRIE WIND MIDDLE, the student body is approximately 80% White, 10% Hispanic, 2% Black, 0% Asian, 5% Two or more.
What district is PRAIRIE WIND MIDDLE in?
PRAIRIE WIND MIDDLE is part of PERHAM-DENT PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.