1
What's one community event at Prairie Winds Middle School more people should show up to?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
887
Middle
DISTRICT 870 · STATE 495
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MANKATO PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 271878002045
Prairie Winds Middle School
1200 PRAIRIE WINDS DR, MANKATO, MN 56001 · (507) 345-6625 · Blue Earth County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL887 STUDENTS
B+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 66% 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
17.9:1
50 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 18.5:1 · STATE 17.5:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
43%
380 students
DISTRICT 45% · 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 6 | 296 | 33% |
| Grade 7 | 300 | 34% |
| Grade 8 | 291 | 33% |
Student demographics
55%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 51% · 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
47.4%
MN avg 49.7%
Math
46.5%
MN avg 45.3%
What this means: On the MCA, Minnesota's statewide test, about 47 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 46 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
42.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
42.0%
based on MN schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-0.0pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 42% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 42% 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 Winds Middle School
Prairie Winds Middle School's state test result (42.0% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prairie Winds Middle School this school | 887 | 42.8% | 42.0% |
| Kellogg Middle School ROCHESTER | 769 | 40.6% | 38.8% |
| Highview Middle School NEW BRIGHTON | 823 | 39.1% | 46.0% |
| ST. LOUIS PARK MIDDLE SCHOOL SAINT LOUIS PARK | 965 | 37.4% | 40.6% |
| WINONA MIDDLE WINONA | 665 | 44.5% | 30.0% |
| Northdale Middle COON RAPIDS | 1,108 | 41.2% | 48.0% |
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 Winds Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Minnesota |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 42.0% | #108 of 245 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 46.5% | #98 of 245 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 47.4% | #134 of 245 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 887 | #58 of 306 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.9:1 | #135 of 210 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 55.1% | #86 of 216 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 42.8% | #87 of 252 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -7.8% | #93 of 129 |
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
887
-203 (-19%) vs 2020
+78% since 1990-91, when it was 498
Student : Teacher
17.9:1
was 18.5:1
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 | 887 | 49.6 | 17.9:1 | 43% (380) |
| 2023-24 | 914 | 51.6 | 17.7:1 | 47% (431) |
| 2022-23 | 954 | 54.8 | 17.4:1 | 47% (449) |
| 2020-21 | 1,090 | 59 | 18.5:1 | 36% (390) |
| 2017-18 | 962 | 53.7 | 17.9:1 | 39% (372) |
| 2015-16 | 543 | 32 | 17.0:1 | 40% (216) |
| 2010-11 | 468 | 30 | 15.6:1 | 39% (184) |
| 2000-01 | 500 | 27 | 18.5:1 | 34% (170) |
| 1990-91 | 498 | 24 | 20.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Prairie Winds Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 8% (962 to 887); teachers down 8% (53.7 to 49.6).
About Prairie Winds Middle School
Families in MANKATO, Minnesota, are served by Prairie Winds Middle School, a large middle-grades school. The school enrolls 887 students in grades 6 through 8. On average, middle schools in Minnesota enroll around 495, and this school is 79% larger than that mark.
MANKATO PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT, which runs Prairie Winds Middle School, has 22 schools and 8,219 students.
The largest group at Prairie Winds Middle School is White students, at 63%. Smaller groups are 19% Black, 9% Hispanic, and 6% multiracial. County-wide, 85% of Blue Earth County residents are White. The diversity index for Prairie Winds Middle School is 55%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
With 49.6 full-time-equivalent teachers, the student-to-teacher ratio is about 17.9:1. The 17.5:1 average for middle schools in Minnesota is close to this figure. Roughly 43% of students come from households that qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.
On the allk12 Grade, Prairie Winds Middle School lands at B+, ahead of 66% of Minnesota public middle schools.
On a poverty-adjusted basis, Prairie Winds Middle School falls in the middle 80% of Minnesota schools: 42.0% actual against 42.0% predicted.
Five-year Census Bureau estimates for Blue Earth County show that median household income comes to about $74,477, roughly 34% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Blue Earth County counts 31 public schools with about 9,034 students.
The closest school to Prairie Winds Middle School is MANKATO EAST SENIOR HIGH, located about 0.9 miles away. There are at least 8 more public schools inside five miles. Local comparison: Prairie Winds Middle School ranks 4th of 7 nearby schools, at 42.0% versus a 45.4% average.
In the federal locale system, Prairie Winds Middle School is coded City: Small, for schools inside a principal city with a population under 100,000.
Between 2020-21 and 2024-25, Prairie Winds Middle School had a net loss of 203 students, or 19%.
This page collects posts and questions about Prairie Winds Middle School, such as fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Blue Earth County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
69,871
Census ACS
Median income
$74,477
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
34%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
31
9,034 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in MANKATO PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT
- MANKATO EAST SENIOR HIGHHigh · 1,302 students
- MANKATO WEST SENIOR HIGHHigh · 1,232 students
- Dakota Meadows Middle SchoolMiddle · 852 students
- HOOVER ELEMENTARYElementary · 461 students
- Rosa Parks ElementaryElementary · 425 students
- FRANKLIN ELEMENTARYElementary · 388 students
Other schools in MANKATO
- MANKATO EAST SENIOR HIGHHigh · 1,302 students
- MANKATO WEST SENIOR HIGHHigh · 1,232 students
- Rosa Parks ElementaryElementary · 425 students
- FRANKLIN ELEMENTARYElementary · 388 students
- WASHINGTON ELEMENTARYElementary · 376 students
- KENNEDY ELEMENTARYElementary · 347 students
Nearby schools
- MANKATO EAST SENIOR HIGH0.9 mi · 1,302
- KENNEDY ELEMENTARY1.0 mi · 347
- Mankato Schools Center for Learning1.2 mi · 165
- INSITE1.5 mi · 18
- WASHINGTON ELEMENTARY1.9 mi · 376
- Rosa Parks Elementary1.9 mi · 425
Frequently asked questions
About Prairie Winds Middle SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Prairie Winds Middle School?
Prairie Winds Middle School enrolls approximately 887 students in grades 06-08.
Is Prairie Winds Middle School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Prairie Winds Middle School is a middle school covering grades 06-08.
How many teachers does Prairie Winds Middle School have?
Prairie Winds Middle School employs 50 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 17.9:1.
What is the student diversity at Prairie Winds Middle School?
Student demographics at Prairie Winds Middle School are roughly 63% White, 9% Hispanic, 19% Black, 2% Asian, 6% Two or more.
What district is Prairie Winds Middle School in?
Prairie Winds Middle School is part of MANKATO PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.