South Washington Alternative HS

South Washington Alternative HS is a secondary school of tiny scale in COTTAGE GROVE, Minnesota, one of the schools within South Washington County Schools, works with 97 students in grades 6 through 12. That puts it 74% below the typical public school in Minnesota, which averages around 371 students.

South Washington County Schools comprises 28 schools with combined enrollment of 19,578 students; South Washington Alternative HS is among them.

On the student-mix side, South Washington Alternative HS shows that the largest single group is White at 41%, but no single group is in the majority. Beyond that, the school lists 24% Hispanic, 14% Black, 11% multiracial, 8% Asian. By comparison, Washington County as a whole is about 78% White, so the school skews considerably less White than its surroundings.

In terms of school funding signals, Staff filings list 13 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 7.3:1 students per teacher. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 16.3:1 average. Around 49% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. That share is higher than Washington County's rate of about 26%.

In the area at large, community-level numbers for Washington County indicate median household income runs about $115,345, about 49% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and the poverty rate sits near 4%. In all, Washington County runs 103 public schools (combined enrollment of about 46,313 students), of which South Washington Alternative HS is one.

Nearest neighbor: Ages 3-5 Early Childhood Special Ed, around 0.0 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius.

The campus sits in a commuter-belt setting.

Trend over the last 7 years. South Washington Alternative HS's enrollment has grew 47% since 2018, when it stood at 66 (now 97). White enrollment moved from 56% to 41% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio widened from 4.8:1 in 2018 to 7.3:1 today.

On the community side, members of the South Washington Alternative HS community share and discuss classroom updates, athletics, and weather closures. The community welcomes input from current and former families.