The top reported proficiency rate is 55% in English language arts. The lowest is 11% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Clinton-graceville-beardsley
The Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley district is a single, unified public school system serving the rural communities of Big Stone County in western Minnesota. It is a small district, enrolling students from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. The student body is overwhelmingly white, with very small shares of Hispanic and multiracial students, and a handful of American Indian and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students. Data on the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, on students with disabilities, and on English learners were not provided. Given the district's size and rural setting, a parent looking into these categories would want to ask the district office for current figures.
Academically, the district shows a clear pattern. In reading, performance in the early elementary grades is a strength; grade three and grade five reading proficiency rates stand out as strong, well above what is typical. Grade eight reading also shows a solid share of students meeting the bar. However, reading proficiency drops noticeably in grades four and six, where fewer than half of students are proficient. Seventh grade reading sits at the midpoint. These peaks and valleys suggest that the district's literacy instruction may be uneven across grade levels, though the small class sizes mean that a single cohort's strength or weakness can shift the numbers from year to year. In math, the early grades look reasonably strong, with a solid majority of third graders proficient and roughly half of fourth and fifth graders meeting the standard. But math proficiency falls off sharply in middle school; in grades six, seven, and eight, only a quarter to a third of students are proficient. That is a soft spot any parent with a child approaching junior high would want to explore. Science results were reported for grades five and eight under a new assessment format, which makes direct comparison to prior years unreliable. In grade five, a very low share of students scored proficient. In grade eight, no student scored proficient. A parent should ask the school how science instruction and curriculum are being addressed, especially given that this was the first year of a new science test with new cut scores, so the findings may not reflect the usual pattern.
The district runs six schools, which is a notable number for such a small total enrollment. Two are conventional attendance buildings, one for pre-K through grade five and one for grades six through twelve. The other four are colony schools, serving Hutterite communities: two elementary schools and two high schools. That means the district has a distinct structure, with a small-town public school experience at the main campuses and separate, likely much smaller, schools for children from religious colony settlements. A family moving to the area would need to know which of these schools a given property is zoned for, because the day-to-day reality of a colony school is quite different from the main pre-K-5 or 6-12 building.
Housing in the district's area is affordable relative to the nation. The weighted typical home value across the zip codes that feed into the district is below the Minnesota statewide benchmark and well below the national average. Home values in the district's small towns vary, with some areas notably lower and some near the district's weighted average. The county-level market is not separately tracked in the data. For a family moving in, the housing market is a cost of entry that sits on the affordable end of the spectrum, which is common for rural western Minnesota. The district has no academic peer comparison available; it is the only district in Big Stone County, so there is no county-level reference point for proficiency, graduation rates, or spending.
Information about programs such as Advanced Placement, career and technical education, or dual-credit offerings was not available in the data. A parent looking for those pathways should contact the district directly. Similarly, data on discipline, teacher staffing, class sizes, and chronic absenteeism were not provided, so a clear picture of the day-to-day school environment and student support systems is not available from this profile. The district's graduation rate was also not reported. That is a significant gap for any family with a child heading into high school.
What a family gets here is a rural district with a small, mostly homogenous student body and a school system that has strong moments in early-grade reading and weaker performance in middle-level math and science, especially under a new test. The colony schools add a layer of distinctiveness that most Minnesota districts do not have. For a family that values a very small, community-rooted school setting and is comfortable with the academic variability that often comes with small cohorts, this district may be a fit. Any family concerned about consistent academic rigor, especially in math and science through the middle grades, should ask pointed questions about curriculum, intervention strategies, and how the district supports students when proficiency drops between elementary and junior high.
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