The top reported proficiency rate is 0% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Win-middle School
WIN-Middle School, located in Little Falls, Minnesota, is a special education school serving students in grades six through nine. It is part of the Mid-State Education District, a specialized joint-powers cooperative that provides shared services such as special education, early childhood programming, and technology support to multiple member school districts in the region, including Onamia, Pierz, Royalton, Swanville, and Upsala.
The school operates as a Setting IV facility, which refers to a separate day school placement for students whose educational needs cannot be met in a less restrictive environment with available supplemental services. This mission shapes every aspect of the school. The enrollment is very small, which is consistent with a school of this type and the intensity of services it provides. Of the students enrolled, more than half are White, and a substantial share are American Indian or Alaska Native. Two-thirds of students come from households that qualify for free or reduced-price meals.
Because WIN-Middle School is a specialized setting, standard state accountability measures do not serve as direct comparisons to mainstream schools. On the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments, the proficiency rate for both math and reading in grades six, seven, and eight was reported as zero percent. Science testing data was suppressed due to the small number of students tested. In the context of the school's purpose, which is to serve students with significant disabilities and receive highly individualized instruction and support, this is a predictable pattern for this type of program. A parent considering this placement would be coming through an individual education plan (IEP) team process, not through open enrollment, and would evaluate the school based on whether it provides the specialized instruction and therapeutic services a student needs rather than on conventional test scores.
The school's setting is Little Falls, a small city that serves as the county seat of Morrison County. The community is situated on both sides of the Mississippi River, with a historic downtown on the east bank. The area has a mix of residential neighborhoods, a compact and walkable downtown core with shops and civic buildings, and industrial areas tied to manufacturing, particularly boats and metal products. Major employers include Camp Ripley, a Minnesota National Guard training facility just north of town, as well as local government and the school district itself. Civic anchors include Charles A. Lindbergh State Park, Pine Grove Primeval Park and Zoo, and several museums. Housing values in the area sit below both the state and national benchmarks, reflecting the region's rural and small-city character.
For a family whose child is already in the special education system and whose IEP team has determined that a separate day school is the most appropriate placement, WIN-Middle School offers a dedicated, small-scale environment focused entirely on that population. The school does not serve a general education population, and it does not offer the course pathways, extracurriculars, or typical school profile that a family would evaluate in a comprehensive or neighborhood school. The district brief indicates that no major changes affecting parents have been publicly reported in recent years, which is unsurprising for a stable cooperative program of this nature.
See more original research from School Decision →