Enrollment
144
Elementary
DISTRICT 141 · STATE 344
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WEST CENTRAL AREA·NCES 270010400513
WEST CENTRAL AREA N. EL.
411 1ST ST SE, ELBOW LAKE, MN 56531 · (218) 685-7500 · Grant County
GRADES PK–04ELEMENTARY43-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL144 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
9.6:1
15 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 10.4:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
41%
59 students
DISTRICT 38% · STATE 48%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade
Student demographics
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
MCA 2024-25 . % Meets or Exceeds StandardsEnglish Language Arts
52.5%
MN avg 49.7%
Math
74.6%
MN avg 45.3%
What this means: On the MCA, Minnesota's statewide test, about 53 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 75 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
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of MN schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
59.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
43.0%
based on MN schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+16.6pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 60% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 43% typical for Minnesota schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 17 points, placing it in Minnesota's top 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
7-year change
SY 2017-18 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
144
-16 (-10%) vs 2017
Student : Teacher
9.6:1
was 11.8:1
% White
86%
was 95%
% Hispanic
5%
was 1%
% Black
3%
was 1%
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
About WEST CENTRAL AREA N. EL.
WEST CENTRAL AREA N. EL. is one of the small primary schools in ELBOW LAKE, Minnesota, overseen by WEST CENTRAL AREA, with 144 students on its rolls from grades pre-K through 4. Compared to the state average of about 344 students per school, that is 58% below typical.
WEST CENTRAL AREA comprises 4 schools with combined enrollment of 743 students; WEST CENTRAL AREA N. EL. is among them.
On the student-mix side, WEST CENTRAL AREA N. EL. logs that the student body is overwhelmingly White (86%). The remainder reads as 6% multiracial, 5% Hispanic, 3% Black.
Looking at the economic backdrop, On paper, WEST CENTRAL AREA N. EL. has 15 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 9.6:1. The state averages around 13.7:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. About 41% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.
On a demographically-adjusted basis, WEST CENTRAL AREA N. EL. ranks in the top 10% of Minnesota public schools. The BeatsExpectations model, a per-state regression of composite proficiency on FRL share, predicts schools with this student profile to land around 43.0%; WEST CENTRAL AREA N. EL. posts 59.7%, +16.6 points above that line.
Zooming out to the county, the surrounding county (Grant County) reports that the typical household earns roughly $73,917 per year, 21% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 8%. In all, Grant County runs 8 public schools (combined enrollment of about 1,012 students), of which WEST CENTRAL AREA N. EL. is one.
The closest other public school is WEST CENTRAL AREA SECONDARY, roughly 6.7 miles away. 2 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a ten-mile radius, suggesting a relatively low-density school footprint. On composite proficiency, WEST CENTRAL AREA N. EL. comes 1st of 7 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 43.2%.
The campus sits in a small-town setting.
Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at WEST CENTRAL AREA N. EL. has shrank 10%, going from 160 students in 2018 to 144 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share decreased from 95% to 86%. The student-to-teacher ratio tightened from 11.8:1 in 2018 to 9.6:1 today.
Inside the community feed, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.
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
- WCA Middle SchoolMiddle · 232 students
- WEST CENTRAL AREA SECONDARYHigh · 229 students
- WEST CENTRAL AREA S. EL.Elementary · 138 students
- West Central Area ALPHigh
Nearby schools
- WEST CENTRAL AREA SECONDARY6.7 mi · 229
- WCA Middle School6.7 mi · 232
- ASHBY ELEMENTARY10.0 mi · 178
- ASHBY SECONDARY10.0 mi · 137
- Evansville Elementary13.5 mi · 163
- Herman-Norcross Elementary14.8 mi · 56
Frequently asked questions
About WEST CENTRAL AREA N. EL.How many students attend WEST CENTRAL AREA N. EL.?
WEST CENTRAL AREA N. EL. enrolls approximately 144 students in grades PK-04.
Is WEST CENTRAL AREA N. EL. an elementary, middle, or high school?
WEST CENTRAL AREA N. EL. is an elementary school covering grades PK-04.
What is the student-teacher ratio at WEST CENTRAL AREA N. EL.?
The student-to-teacher ratio at WEST CENTRAL AREA N. EL. is approximately 9.6:1 (15 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at WEST CENTRAL AREA N. EL.?
At WEST CENTRAL AREA N. EL., the student body is approximately 86% White, 5% Hispanic, 3% Black, 6% Two or more.
Is WEST CENTRAL AREA N. EL. public or private?
WEST CENTRAL AREA N. EL. 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.