Vermilion Country School

Located at 1 ENTERPRISE DR, in TOWER, Minnesota, Vermilion Country School is an one-room-style four-year high school that instructs 50 students (grades 7 through 12), one of the schools within Vermilion Country School. Compared to the state average of about 371 students per school, that is 87% smaller than typical.

Vermilion Country School is the operating authority for Vermilion Country School, handling staffing, calendars, and reporting to the state department of education.

Demographically, Vermilion Country School reports that the largest single group is White, at 62% of enrollment. The remainder consists of 24% Native American, 6% Hispanic, 4% Black, 2% Asian. By comparison, St. Louis County as a whole is about 90% White, so the school skews meaningfully less White than its surroundings.

In terms of school funding signals, Vermilion Country School shows 5 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 9.2:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 16.3:1 average. Roughly 80% of students at Vermilion Country School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against St. Louis County (around 40%), the school's rate is north of typical.

In the broader community, the surrounding county (St. Louis County) reports that the typical household earns roughly $70,069 per year, roughly 34% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 7%. In all, St. Louis County runs 100 public schools (combined enrollment of about 23,921 students), of which Vermilion Country School is one.

Nearest neighbor: Tower-Soudan Elementary, around 0.5 miles off.

The school occupies an outlying site. Vermilion Country School operates as a public charter school, meaning it is publicly funded but governed independently of the surrounding district's traditional schools.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count increased 14%: 44 students in 2018 compared to 50 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 73% to 62% across the same window. Class-load math has rose: from 7.1:1 in 2018 to 9.2:1 in 2025.

On the community side, posts here usually surface around sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.