Southwest Middle

Southwest Middle is one of the mid-sized 6-8 campuss in ALBERT LEA, Minnesota, overseen by Albert Lea Public School District, with 486 students on its rolls from grades 6 through 7.

Within Albert Lea Public School District, which oversees 9 schools and 3,335 students, Southwest Middle is one campus in the system.

In terms of who attends, Southwest Middle records that the most-represented group is White (53%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups. Other groups include 27% Hispanic, 12% Asian, 4% Black, 4% multiracial. That is considerably less White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 84%.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Staff filings list 34 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 Southwest Middle tighter than the state norm the norm. About 58% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy.

After controlling for student poverty, Southwest Middle performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 33.8%, the actual is 28.4%, a residual of -5.3 points.

Zooming out to the county, Freeborn County reports that the typical household earns roughly $71,023 per year, roughly 18% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 6% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Freeborn County's 19 public schools (combined enrollment of about 4,061 students), Southwest Middle is one campus in the mix.

The closest other public school is Sibley Elementary, roughly 0.1 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 6 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Southwest Middle ranks 4th on composite proficiency, beneath the local average of 32.7%.

The campus sits in a small-town setting.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count stayed largely flat: 482 students in 2018 compared to 486 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share shrank from 68% to 53%. Class-load math has loosened: from 12.2:1 in 2018 to 14.3:1 in 2025.

On this page, recent activity here tends to focus on fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.