Enrollment
232
Middle
DISTRICT 186 · STATE 495
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WEST CENTRAL AREA·NCES 270010404375
WCA Middle School
301 COUNTY ROAD 2, BARRETT, MN 56311 · (320) 528-7400 · Grant County
GRADES 05–08MIDDLE43-RURALREGULAR SCHOOL232 STUDENTS
C-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 18% of Minnesota public middle schools
- CTest 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 middle schools
Student : Teacher
15.2:1
15 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.1:1 · STATE 17.5:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
35%
81 students
DISTRICT 38% · STATE 48%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 5 | 59 | 25% |
| Grade 6 | 61 | 26% |
| Grade 7 | 50 | 22% |
| Grade 8 | 62 | 27% |
Student demographics
11%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 19% · 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
Students here typically continue to
WCA Middle School→WEST CENTRAL AREA SECONDARY
Based on grade levels within WEST CENTRAL AREA. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
MCA 2024-25 . % Meets or Exceeds StandardsEnglish Language Arts
44.4%
MN avg 49.7%
Math
30.6%
MN avg 45.3%
What this means: On the MCA, Minnesota's statewide test, about 44 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 31 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
34.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
46.3%
based on MN schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-12.3pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 34% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 46% 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 WCA Middle School
WCA Middle School's state test result (34.0% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| WCA Middle School this school | 232 | 34.9% | 34.0% |
| LUVERNE MIDDLE LUVERNE | 271 | 31.4% | 54.2% |
| Jackson County Central Middle LAKEFIELD | 241 | 38.2% | 37.7% |
| MINNEWASKA AREA JUNIOR HIGH GLENWOOD | 212 | 28.3% | 41.7% |
| RUSHFORD-PETERSON MIDDLE RUSHFORD | 145 | 34.5% | 45.3% |
| Blooming Prairie Intermediate Schoo BLOOMING PRAIRIE | 138 | 34.8% | 41.4% |
Matched among Minnesota middle 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 WCA Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Minnesota |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 34.0% | #179 of 245 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 30.6% | #174 of 245 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 44.4% | #161 of 245 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 232 | #205 of 306 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.2:1 | #56 of 210 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 10.8% | #211 of 216 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 34.9% | #126 of 252 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -5.7% | #106 of 129 |
Ranked against other public middle 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
232
+5 (+2%) vs 2020
+149% since 2010-11, when it was 93
Student : Teacher
15.2:1
was 18.9:1
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 | 232 | 15.2 | 15.2:1 | 35% (81) |
| 2023-24 | 229 | 15 | 15.3:1 | 50% (115) |
| 2022-23 | 220 | 14 | 15.8:1 | 49% (108) |
| 2020-21 | 227 | 12 | 18.9:1 | 32% (73) |
| 2017-18 | 246 | 13.5 | 18.2:1 | 38% (94) |
| 2015-16 | 106 | 9 | 11.8:1 | 34% (36) |
| 2010-11 | 93 | 5 | 18.6:1 | 42% (39) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for WCA Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 6% (246 to 232); teachers up 13% (13.5 to 15.2).
About WCA Middle School
WCA Middle School is a small middle school in BARRETT, Minnesota, under WEST CENTRAL AREA. The grade span is 5 through 8, and enrollment is 232 students. Average enrollment for middle schools in Minnesota is about 495, so this school runs 53% smaller than that.
WEST CENTRAL AREA enrolls 743 students, and its 4 schools include WCA Middle School.
The large majority of students at WCA Middle School, 94%, are White. The remaining shares are 3% Hispanic and 2% multiracial. County-wide, about 94% of residents are White. The chance that two students picked at random at WCA Middle School belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 11%.
Its 15.2 full-time-equivalent teachers give the school a ratio of 15.2:1. The average ratio among middle schools in Minnesota is 17.5:1, higher than at this school. The school's lunch program data list 35% of students as eligible for free or reduced-price meals. That is close to the 35% average for public schools in Grant County.
The allk12 Grade for WCA Middle School is C-. Compared with Minnesota public middle schools, the school scored higher than 18% on a mix of test scores, poverty-adjusted results, and recent trend.
Given its lunch-eligibility share, the predicted average proficiency rate on state tests for WCA Middle School is 46.3%. It actually posts 34.0%, which is 12.3 points lower and in the bottom 10% of Minnesota schools.
Census estimates describe Grant County this way: median household income is about $73,917, about 21% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 8% of residents are in poverty. Federal data list 8 public schools in Grant County, with a combined enrollment of about 1,012.
WEST CENTRAL AREA SECONDARY is located less than a tenth of a mile from WCA Middle School. Other public schools within ten miles: 2. Nearby schools with test data average 48.3% proficiency; WCA Middle School posts 34.0%.
The federal government classifies WCA Middle School's location as Rural: Remote.
Federal data show 227 students in 2020-21 and 232 in 2024-25, a difference of under 3%. In 2020-21, the student-to-teacher ratio was 18.9:1; by 2024-25 it was 15.2:1.
Parents and students can post about enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news at WCA Middle School. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Grant County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
6,127
Census ACS
Median income
$73,917
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
21%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
8%
Below federal line
Schools in county
8
1,012 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in WEST CENTRAL AREA
- WEST CENTRAL AREA SECONDARYHigh · 229 students
- WEST CENTRAL AREA N. EL.Elementary · 144 students
- WEST CENTRAL AREA S. EL.Elementary · 138 students
- West Central Area ALPHigh
Other schools in BARRETT
- WEST CENTRAL AREA SECONDARYHigh · 229 students
- West Central Area ALPHigh
Nearby schools
- WEST CENTRAL AREA SECONDARY0.0 mi · 229
- WEST CENTRAL AREA N. EL.6.7 mi · 144
- Evansville Elementary12.1 mi · 163
- WEST CENTRAL AREA S. EL.13.1 mi · 138
- ASHBY SECONDARY13.3 mi · 137
- ASHBY ELEMENTARY13.3 mi · 178
Frequently asked questions
About WCA Middle SchoolHow many students attend WCA Middle School?
WCA Middle School enrolls approximately 232 students in grades 05-08.
What grades does WCA Middle School serve?
WCA Middle School serves grades 05-08.
How many teachers does WCA Middle School have?
WCA Middle School employs 15 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 15.2:1.
How diverse is WCA Middle School?
WCA Middle School reports a student body of 94% White, 3% Hispanic, 1% Black, 2% Two or more.
Is WCA Middle School public or private?
WCA Middle School is a public K-12 school, overseen by WEST CENTRAL AREA.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.