Redwood Valley Middle, Redwood Falls MN

Original Research by School Decision on Redwood Valley Middle

Redwood Valley Middle serves grades five through eight in Redwood Falls and is part of the Redwood Area School District. The school is a regular public school and not a charter or magnet. The student body is predominantly white, with a substantial share of American Indian or Alaska Native students. The remaining enrollment includes a small number of Hispanic students and a handful of students of other races or multiple races. About half of the students come from households that qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, giving the school a moderate level of economic diversity that is typical for a rural Minnesota district.

Academically, the picture is mixed. In reading, proficiency rates hover near the middle mark across all tested grades, with the highest showing at the grade eight level and the lower end at grade seven. Math proficiency follows a similar pattern, with the strongest results in grade eight and a notable dip in grade seven. Science scores present a more difficult picture. At grade five, about a quarter of students met the proficiency standard. At grade eight, the rate drops to a very low level. State science testing underwent changes in both the name of the assessment and the cut scores, which limits direct comparison to prior years, but the eighth-grade figure is a clear soft spot. A family considering this school would want to ask the school’s administration directly about science instruction and intervention in the upper middle grades. The school’s overall proficiency, averaged across subjects and grades, sits in the bottom quarter when placed relative to other districts in Redwood County, meaning that most neighboring districts post higher composite scores.

Redwood Falls itself is a small city that functions as the county seat and a sub-regional economic hub for a surrounding market area. It sits along the Redwood River near the Minnesota River, in prairie and wooded river valley terrain. The city has a traditional downtown and a mix of families and older residents. It has faced a modest population decline in recent years. On the positive side, the area boasts Ramsey Park, one of the largest municipal parks in Minnesota, with trails, footbridges, and a zoo. The town is car-dependent, with no formal public transit system identified. The community’s civic anchors are concentrated downtown, while the school buildings sit on separated campuses.

Search results for recent district changes, such as property-tax shifts, curriculum reforms, or referenda, turned up little that was lasting. Families looking for signs of active academic improvement or programmatic change within the district would need to reach out to the central office directly for current initiatives. The absence of a graduation rate is expected here, because the school serves only the middle grades and does not graduate students.

For a parent, this school offers a regular middle-school experience in a small-town setting with moderate economic diversity and a significant American Indian student presence. The academic proficiency numbers, particularly in science at the upper grade level, are lower than what families might find in other districts within the same county. A family that values a tightly knit rural community and a walkable park system may find the setting appealing, but those prioritizing strong standardized test scores would likely want to look further into how the school supports students who are not yet meeting state benchmarks.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 544%

School 44% · District 44%

▲ 9 pts above state median

Grade 648%

School 48% · District 48%

▲ 20 pts above state median

Grade 731%

School 31% · District 31%

▲ 7 pts above state median

Grade 856%

School 56% · District 56%

▲ 31 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 551%

School 51% · District 51%

▼ 3 pts below state median

Grade 650%

School 50% · District 50%

▲ 4 pts above state median

Grade 741%

School 41% · District 41%

▲ 5 pts above state median

Grade 852%

School 52% · District 52%

▲ 16 pts above state median

Science

Grade 525%

School 25% · District 25%

▲ 1 pts above state median

Grade 84%

School 4% · District 4%

▼ 8 pts below state median

This schoolREDWOOD AREA 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 5Lower-income39%Higher-income63%24 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income43%Higher-income55%12 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income31%Higher-income49%17 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income49%Higher-income55%6 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income26%Higher-income63%37 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income38%Higher-income55%17 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income20%Higher-income41%21 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income55%Higher-income57%2 pp gap