Enrollment
203
Elementary
DISTRICT 158 · STATE 344
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·COOK COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 271311000658
Sawtooth Mountain Elementary
101 W 5TH ST, GRAND MARAIS, MN 55604 · (218) 387-2271 · Cook County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY43-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL203 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 9% of Minnesota public elementary schools
- C-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- FBeats 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 elementary schools
Student : Teacher
10.3:1
20 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 10.9:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
45%
91 students
DISTRICT 42% · STATE 48%
Community
0
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 | 45 | 22% |
| Kindergarten | 17 | 8% |
| Grade 1 | 28 | 14% |
| Grade 2 | 25 | 12% |
| Grade 3 | 30 | 15% |
| Grade 4 | 28 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 30 | 15% |
This year's kindergarten class (17) is 43% smaller than its 5th grade class (30).
Student demographics
50%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 50% · 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
QUIET COMMUNITY
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START A DISCUSSIONTest scores
MCA 2024-25 . % Meets or Exceeds StandardsEnglish Language Arts
38.4%
MN avg 49.7%
Math
23.5%
MN avg 45.3%
What this means: On the MCA, Minnesota's statewide test, about 38 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 24 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
28.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
41.0%
based on MN schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-12.1pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 29% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 41% 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 Sawtooth Mountain Elementary
Sawtooth Mountain Elementary's state test result (28.9% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 3 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sawtooth Mountain Elementary this school | 203 | 44.8% | 28.9% |
| NORTH WOODS ELEMENTARY COOK | 234 | 50.0% | 39.4% |
| GOODVIEW ELEMENTARY WINONA | 209 | 45.9% | 49.2% |
| WELC - VPK BAXTER | 215 | 45.6% | N/A |
| North Lakes Academy Elementary FOREST LAKE | 220 | 46.4% | 38.6% |
| Lincoln School FERGUS FALLS | 236 | 40.7% | N/A |
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 Sawtooth Mountain Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Minnesota |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 28.9% | #681 of 844 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 23.5% | #734 of 844 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 38.4% | #598 of 844 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 203 | #792 of 1,130 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 10.3:1 | #54 of 769 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 49.6% | #380 of 796 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 44.8% | #408 of 942 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -8.1% | #355 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
203
+70 (+53%) vs 2020
-28% since 1990-91, when it was 283
Student : Teacher
10.3:1
was 7.0:1
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 | 203 | 19.8 | 10.3:1 | 45% (91) |
| 2023-24 | 192 | 16.3 | 11.8:1 | 48% (93) |
| 2022-23 | 185 | 17.3 | 10.7:1 | 54% (99) |
| 2020-21 | 133 | 19 | 7.0:1 | 32% (42) |
| 2017-18 | 221 | 17.6 | 12.6:1 | 41% (90) |
| 2015-16 | 165 | 14 | 11.8:1 | 47% (77) |
| 2010-11 | 165 | 13 | 12.7:1 | 35% (58) |
| 2000-01 | 251 | 14 | 17.9:1 | 22% (56) |
| 1990-91 | 283 | 18 | 15.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Sawtooth Mountain Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 8% (221 to 203); teachers up 13% (17.6 to 19.8).
About Sawtooth Mountain Elementary
Sawtooth Mountain Elementary is a small elementary school serving families in GRAND MARAIS, Minnesota. Classes run from pre-K through 5, and the school has 203 students. Against the 344-student average for elementary schools in Minnesota, enrollment here is 41% lower.
Cook County Public Schools enrolls 475 students in 3 schools, including Sawtooth Mountain Elementary.
White students account for 68% of enrollment at Sawtooth Mountain Elementary. The remaining students are 13% Native American, 12% multiracial, and 7% Hispanic. Census figures show Cook County is about 84% White. The chance that two students picked at random at Sawtooth Mountain Elementary belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 50%.
Sawtooth Mountain Elementary operates with 19.8 full-time-equivalent teachers, a ratio of about 10.3:1. That ratio is under the 13.7:1 average for elementary schools in Minnesota. Sawtooth Mountain Elementary reports 45% of students eligible for free or reduced-price meals.
allk12 grades Sawtooth Mountain Elementary a D. The grade compares the school only with Minnesota public elementary schools, because each state gives its own test.
Based on its free or reduced-price lunch share, the BeatsExpectations model predicts an average proficiency rate on state tests of 41.0% for Sawtooth Mountain Elementary. The school posts 28.9%, 12.1 points below the prediction.
Among Cook County residents, median household income is about $72,638, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 47%, and about 5% of people live in poverty. Sawtooth Mountain Elementary is one of 9 public schools in Cook County, which together enroll about 652 students.
Cook County Middle is the nearest neighboring public school, less than a tenth of a mile away. A five-mile radius around the school includes 3 other public schools. Sawtooth Mountain Elementary ranks 3rd of 4 among nearby schools on average proficiency, with 28.9% against a local average of 44.9%.
Sawtooth Mountain Elementary is coded as Rural: Remote in federal locale data.
Sawtooth Mountain Elementary reported 133 students in 2020-21 and 203 in 2024-25. Changes that large sometimes follow a school adding or dropping grades, so the two figures may not cover the same grades. From 2020-21 to 2024-25, the ratio rose from 7.0:1 to 10.3:1.
Families, students, and staff can use this page to discuss sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week at Sawtooth Mountain Elementary. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Cook County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
5,635
Census ACS
Median income
$72,638
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
47%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
9
652 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Cook County Public Schools
- Cook County Senior HighHigh · 177 students
- Cook County MiddleMiddle · 95 students
- Grand Marais CommunityHigh
Other schools in GRAND MARAIS
- Cook County Senior HighHigh · 177 students
- GREAT EXPECTATIONSElementary · 113 students
- Cook County MiddleMiddle · 95 students
- Cook County ISD 166 ALC ProgramHigh
- Cook County ISD 166 Credit RecoveryHigh
- Grand Marais CommunityHigh
Nearby schools
- Cook County Middle0.0 mi · 95
- Cook County Senior High0.0 mi · 177
- GREAT EXPECTATIONS0.4 mi · 113
- BIRCH GROVE COMMUNITY SCHOOL27.5 mi · 45
- OSHKI OGIMAAG CHARTER SCHOOL33.6 mi · 19
Frequently asked questions
About Sawtooth Mountain ElementaryHow many students attend Sawtooth Mountain Elementary?
Sawtooth Mountain Elementary enrolls approximately 203 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does Sawtooth Mountain Elementary serve?
Sawtooth Mountain Elementary serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
How many teachers does Sawtooth Mountain Elementary have?
Sawtooth Mountain Elementary employs 20 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 10.3:1.
How diverse is Sawtooth Mountain Elementary?
Sawtooth Mountain Elementary reports a student body of 68% White, 7% Hispanic, 12% Two or more.
Is Sawtooth Mountain Elementary public or private?
Sawtooth Mountain Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by Cook County Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.