Maccray Secondary, Clara City MN

Original Research by School Decision on Maccray Secondary

MACCRAY Secondary, serving grades six through twelve, is the middle and high school for the MACCRAY School District, housed in a newly consolidated Pre-K through twelve campus in Clara City. A parent looking at this school will encounter a small, rural academic setting where a substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, and where state testing results present a mixed picture.

On the 2024-25 state assessments, the school’s math proficiency rates in grade six, grade seven, and grade eight each fell within a range that placed overall math outcomes below the midpoint of the county’s districts. The combined proficiency index across tested subjects and grades came in above the midpoint relative to other districts in Chippewa County, but this is a thin advantage in a small comparison set of only three districts. In English language arts, grade six and grade seven showed proficiency rates that were stronger than the math results, while grade eight dipped notably lower. Science proficiency in grade eight was the weakest subject area, at a rate that a parent may want to look into further with the school. Because the state changed the science assessment and its cut scores in the testing year, the reported results are not directly comparable to prior years, making trend analysis unavailable. The school has only one year of proficiency data in the current format, so no trend line exists yet for most subjects.

The student body is predominantly white, with a Hispanic population that makes up the largest minority group. Black, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and two-or-more-races students each form very small shares of enrollment. The school serves about that size cohort for the middle and high school grades, with grade-level enrollments that are fairly even across the span. No data was available on the share of students with an Individualized Education Program or on the share of English learners. Because the school serves grades six through twelve, a four-year graduation rate would be expected for its high school branch, but that metric was not reported in the available data.

The campus operates as a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. It is part of the consolidated MACCRAY district, which in the early 2020s passed a bond referendum to build that unified facility, opening for the 2023-24 school year. This construction consolidated students from the district’s former separate buildings into one location and increased the district’s debt service levy, a factor that may influence local property taxes. The school sits on Wolverine Drive on the west side of Clara City, separated from the small downtown core along Main Street.

Clara City is a small, car-dependent rural community described as the "Crossroads of the Prairie." Housing values in the area are well below the national median, and the cost of living is low. The town’s population has been stable or slightly declining over the past two decades. The built environment includes low-density single-family homes, small commercial parcels, and several churches and parks. Major local employers include the Clara City care center, the school district, and municipal government, with many residents commuting a short distance for work.

For a family, MACCRAY Secondary offers a newly built facility and a consolidated K-12 campus in a small-town setting. Academic proficiency is strongest in middle school English language arts, while math and especially eighth-grade science lag behind. The school’s context as a rural district with a single secondary building means limited course and extracurricular breadth compared to larger suburban or urban schools. A parent who values a small, stable community school and a modern physical plant may find this a good fit, while those seeking a wider range of advanced coursework or a higher-testing academic environment may want to confirm what advanced or dual-credit offerings are available. Further information on graduation rates, special education, and English learner services was not available in this data.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

>=90%Cohort of 47 students · Class of 2021

The federal source publishes a banded range instead of an exact rate when the graduating cohort is small enough that an exact number could risk identifying individual students.

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

649 schools plotted. 88 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Math

Grade 635%

School 35% · District 35%

▲ 8 pts above state median

Grade 747%

School 47% · District 47%

▲ 23 pts above state median

Grade 847%

School 47% · District 47%

▲ 21 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 652%

School 52% · District 52%

▲ 6 pts above state median

Grade 754%

School 54% · District 54%

▲ 18 pts above state median

Grade 838%

School 38% · District 38%

▲ 3 pts above state median

Science

Grade 811%

School 11% · District 11%

▼ 2 pts below state median

This schoolMACCRAY School District, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 6Lower-income47%Higher-income58%11 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income33%Higher-income67%33 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income37%Higher-income40%3 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income23%Higher-income46%22 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income27%Higher-income61%34 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income41%Higher-income54%13 pp gap