Fillmore Central Elementary, Preston MN

Original Research by School Decision on Fillmore Central Elementary

Fillmore Central Elementary serves students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade in Preston, the Fillmore County seat set in southeast Minnesota’s Root River Valley. The building is part of the Fillmore Central district, which operates a separate middle school in Preston and a combined junior-senior high school in nearby Harmony. As a regular public school, it is the entry point for the district’s youngest learners.

The school enrolls a moderate number of students overall, with enrollment tapering at the youngest and oldest ends of its span. More than four-fifths of the student body is white, and the remainder is predominantly Hispanic or multiracial; Asian students make up a very small share. Just over two-fifths of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a level that places economic need in plain view but not as the dominant condition. Data on students with individualized education plans and English learners was not reported; a parent who wants to know how the school supports those populations would need to ask the school directly.

The school’s academic performance on Minnesota’s state assessments shows a mixed profile. In reading, across the tested grades, roughly three-fifths of students met or exceeded the state standard. That figure places the school above the midpoint when compared with other districts in Fillmore County. Math proficiency across tested grades was similar overall. When you look grade by grade, though, the pattern is uneven. Third and fourth graders performed well in both math and reading. Sixth graders were in a similar range. Fifth graders showed considerably lower math scores, and science results for that same grade were the weakest subject area across the board. The science assessment had a name and cut-score change that year, which makes a direct comparison to prior years unreliable. Still, a parent enrolling a child entering fifth grade may want to discuss with the school how math and science instruction are structured at that level. The school’s proficiency index, which averages across all tested subjects and grades, places it in the top quartile among Fillmore County districts, a genuinely strong relative position. Only a single year of test data was available, so there is no trend to judge improvement or decline.

The school building sits in a small town whose Main Street commercial district and paved Blufflands State Trail anchor civic life. Preston is a rural community with a stable but slightly shrinking population; no major new housing developments are evident from available sources. Housing values in the area are below the state median, and the town is a short drive from outdoor recreation such as Mystery Cave State Park. The district has no publicly reported recent referendums, curriculum changes, or property tax shifts to note, meaning a parent moving in should not expect major near-term institutional disruption.

Fillmore Central Elementary is a solid academic performer within a small rural district, strongest in the primary grades and weaker in fifth-grade math and science. The school fits a family seeking a modest-sized, predominantly white elementary school in a quiet county-seat town where the district buses most students from a wider rural area. A parent whose child is approaching fifth grade or who needs detailed special education or English-learner support should ask the school directly what services and interventions are available at those levels.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 372%

School 72% · District 72%

▲ 17 pts above state median

Grade 469%

School 69% · District 69%

▲ 17 pts above state median

Grade 536%

School 36% · District 36%

▲ 1 pts above state median

Grade 663%

School 63% · District 63%

▲ 36 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 368%

School 68% · District 68%

▲ 26 pts above state median

Grade 460%

School 60% · District 60%

▲ 19 pts above state median

Grade 550%

School 50% · District 50%

▼ 4 pts below state median

Grade 667%

School 67% · District 67%

▲ 21 pts above state median

Science

Grade 528%

School 28% · District 28%

▲ 4 pts above state median

This schoolFILLMORE CENTRAL, 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 3Lower-income59%Higher-income75%16 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income53%Higher-income69%16 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income43%Higher-income57%14 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income62%Higher-income70%8 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income64%Higher-income79%15 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income63%Higher-income75%12 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income19%Higher-income52%33 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income52%Higher-income70%18 pp gap