WILLOW RIVER ELEMENTARY

WILLOW RIVER ELEMENTARY is a primary school of compact scale in WILLOW RIVER, Minnesota, overseen by WILLOW RIVER PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT, serveing 231 students in grades pre-K through 6. By comparison, Minnesota's public schools average about 344 students each, so WILLOW RIVER ELEMENTARY sits 33% smaller than that benchmark.

WILLOW RIVER PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT comprises 2 schools with combined enrollment of 436 students; WILLOW RIVER ELEMENTARY is among them.

For racial and ethnic makeup, WILLOW RIVER ELEMENTARY shows that nearly all students (90%) are White; the rest breaks down as 5% Native American, 3% multiracial, 3% Hispanic. That mix tracks the wider county fairly closely.

Looking at school resources, The school employs 20 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 11.6:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 13.7:1 average. Around 44% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, WILLOW RIVER ELEMENTARY tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 41.3% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 45.3%.

Zooming out to the county, community-level numbers for Pine County indicate median household earnings sit near $71,146, 17% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 7%. WILLOW RIVER ELEMENTARY is one of 21 public schools in Pine County (combined enrollment of about 3,657 students).

WILLOW RIVER SECONDARY is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.0 miles from this campus. Within ten miles, there are 8 other public schools, a sparser pattern than typical urban areas. Among the 7 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), WILLOW RIVER ELEMENTARY ranks 2nd on composite proficiency, above the local average of 38.6%.

WILLOW RIVER ELEMENTARY operates from a small-town location.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at WILLOW RIVER ELEMENTARY has rose 4%, going from 223 students in 2018 to 231 in 2025. The White share of enrollment decreased from 95% to 90% over that span.

On the community side, recent activity here tends to focus on school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. Members of the school community can share what they know.