Enrollment
231
High
DISTRICT 242 · STATE 371
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·VERNDALE PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 274092001713
VERNDALE SECONDARY
411 SW BROWN ST, VERNDALE, MN 56481 · (218) 445-5184 · Wadena County
GRADES 07–12HIGH42-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL231 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 5% of Minnesota public high schools
- DTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- DBeats 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 high schools
Student : Teacher
12.0:1
19 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 11.9:1 · STATE 16.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
47%
108 students
DISTRICT 44% · STATE 48%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 7 | 36 | 16% |
| Grade 8 | 38 | 16% |
| Grade 9 | 44 | 19% |
| Grade 10 | 43 | 19% |
| Grade 11 | 35 | 15% |
| Grade 12 | 35 | 15% |
Student demographics
20%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 15% · 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
School pathway
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within VERNDALE PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
MCA 2024-25 . % Meets or Exceeds StandardsEnglish Language Arts
28.8%
MN avg 49.7%
Math
17.6%
MN avg 45.3%
What this means: On the MCA, Minnesota's statewide test, about 29 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 18 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
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of MN schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
23.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
39.9%
based on MN schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-16.8pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 23% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 40% typical for Minnesota schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 VERNDALE SECONDARY
VERNDALE SECONDARY's state test result (23.2% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| VERNDALE SECONDARY this school | 231 | 46.8% | 23.2% |
| Bertha Secondary BERTHA | 213 | 45.1% | 30.6% |
| Cedar Mountain Middle/High School MORGAN | 219 | 45.2% | 27.5% |
| SEBEKA SECONDARY SEBEKA | 233 | 48.9% | 37.3% |
| WIN-E-MAC SECONDARY ERSKINE | 211 | 43.1% | 42.8% |
| FOSSTON SECONDARY FOSSTON | 256 | 49.6% | 45.2% |
Matched among Minnesota high 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 VERNDALE SECONDARY ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Minnesota | In Wadena County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 23.2% | #361 of 397 | N/A |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 17.6% | #329 of 401 | N/A |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 28.8% | #366 of 397 | N/A |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 231 | #310 of 764 | #4 of 6 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.0:1 | #18 of 332 | N/A |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 20.0% | #249 of 338 | N/A |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 46.8% | #143 of 444 | N/A |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -8.3% | #82 of 146 | N/A |
Ranked against other public high 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
231
-23 (-9%) vs 2020
+29% since 1990-91, when it was 179
Student : Teacher
12.0:1
was 15.9:1
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 | 231 | 19.3 | 12.0:1 | 47% (108) |
| 2023-24 | 247 | 17.3 | 14.3:1 | 52% (129) |
| 2022-23 | 245 | 15.8 | 15.5:1 | 59% (144) |
| 2020-21 | 254 | 16 | 15.9:1 | 39% (99) |
| 2017-18 | 252 | 19.2 | 13.1:1 | 47% (118) |
| 2015-16 | 237 | 18 | 13.2:1 | 55% (131) |
| 2010-11 | 237 | 17 | 13.9:1 | 59% (140) |
| 2000-01 | 201 | 17 | 11.8:1 | 52% (105) |
| 1990-91 | 179 | 14 | 12.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for VERNDALE SECONDARY.
Since 2017-18: students down 8% (252 to 231); teachers up 1% (19.2 to 19.3).
About VERNDALE SECONDARY
Among the schools in VERNDALE, Minnesota, is VERNDALE SECONDARY, a low-enrollment high school. The school has 231 students in 2024-25 across grades 7 through 12. By comparison, high schools in Minnesota enroll about 371 students on average.
Besides VERNDALE SECONDARY, VERNDALE PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT runs 1 other school. The district enrolls 484 students.
White students are 89% of those enrolled at VERNDALE SECONDARY. Other reported shares: 5% multiracial and 4% Hispanic. That is in line with Wadena County, where about 87% of residents are White. A diversity index of 20% means there is a 20% chance two randomly chosen students at VERNDALE SECONDARY are from different groups.
The school's 19.3 full-time-equivalent teachers translate to a student-to-teacher ratio of 12.0:1. Statewide, high schools in Minnesota average 16.3:1. Income data for the school show 47% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The average for public schools in Wadena County is similar, at 49%.
On the allk12 Grade, VERNDALE SECONDARY lands at D, ahead of 5% of Minnesota public high schools.
VERNDALE SECONDARY falls short of its prediction by 16.8 points. The model expects 39.9% for a school with its free or reduced-price lunch share in Minnesota; the school's rate is 23.2%.
For the population of Wadena County, median household income comes to about $61,467, 20% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 9% of people live in poverty. Wadena County's 17 public schools enroll about 3,201 students and include VERNDALE SECONDARY.
VERNDALE ELEMENTARY, less than a tenth of a mile away, is the closest public school. Counting only straight-line distance, at least 8 other public schools are within ten miles. Among the 4 closest schools with test data, this one included, VERNDALE SECONDARY ranks 4th on average proficiency.
VERNDALE SECONDARY has an NCES locale of Rural: Distant.
Enrollment was 231 in 2024-25. In 2020-21, it was 254. Its ratio of students to teachers was 15.9:1 in 2020-21, and 12.0:1 in 2024-25.
This page collects posts and questions about VERNDALE SECONDARY, such as fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Wadena County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
14,256
Census ACS
Median income
$61,467
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
20%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
9%
Below federal line
Schools in county
17
3,201 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in VERNDALE PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT
- VERNDALE ELEMENTARYElementary · 253 students
Nearby schools
- VERNDALE ELEMENTARY0.0 mi · 253
- Elm Tree Academy5.7 mi · 9
- LEAF RIVER ACADEMY5.7 mi · 15
- Freshwater Education District ALC5.7 mi · 101
- White Pine Academy5.7 mi · 11
- EARLY CHILDHOOD SPECIAL EDUCATION5.7 mi · 64
Frequently asked questions
About VERNDALE SECONDARYHow large is VERNDALE SECONDARY?
VERNDALE SECONDARY enrolls approximately 231 students in grades 07-12.
What grades does VERNDALE SECONDARY serve?
VERNDALE SECONDARY serves grades 07-12.
How many teachers does VERNDALE SECONDARY have?
VERNDALE SECONDARY employs 19 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 12.0:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at VERNDALE SECONDARY?
At VERNDALE SECONDARY, the student body is approximately 89% White, 4% Hispanic, 0% Black, 1% Asian, 5% Two or more.
Is VERNDALE SECONDARY public or private?
VERNDALE SECONDARY is a public K-12 school, overseen by VERNDALE PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.