Lonsdale Pre K-6, Lonsdale MN - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Lonsdale Pre K-6

Lonsdale Pre K-6 is a regular public elementary school in the Tri-City United School District, serving children from prekindergarten through sixth grade. The school is located within Lonsdale, a fast-growing exurb of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metro area that retains a small-town feel. A parent considering this school should know that the middle and high school years take place in nearby Montgomery, where the district's middle and high schools are located. Some Lonsdale residents are also served by the New Prague Public Schools, so district boundaries are worth checking for a specific address.

The school is the only elementary building in Lonsdale within the Tri-City United system. Its enrollment is moderate for a pre-K through sixth grade building, with roughly similar class sizes across kindergarten through sixth grade and a smaller prekindergarten program. The student body is predominantly white, with a Hispanic population that is notably present, a small share of students who identify as two or more races, and very small representations of Black, Asian, and American Indian or Alaska Native students. About a quarter of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is a moderate level for the area.

On state assessments, the school's results are a mixed picture that parents will want to examine by grade level. In reading, the sixth graders posted a strong proficiency rate, and fourth graders were above half, but third and fifth graders were below the halfway mark. In math, the third grade result was a clear strength, with a high rate of proficiency. Fourth and sixth graders were at or near half, but fifth grade math was a soft spot, with less than a quarter of students scoring proficient. Science results for fifth graders were also low. The data is from a single year, so there is no trend line to indicate whether these are typical or a one-year pattern. The school's overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades places it above the midpoint among districts in Rice County, a useful point of reference that puts it in the upper half locally but not at the top.

No data was available on chronic absenteeism, staffing ratios, discipline rates, or course access. The district brief turned up little in the way of recent major changes such as referendums or curriculum shifts, so the picture is a relatively stable one without a visible reform agenda or new programming.

Lonsdale itself is a community in motion. The population has grown measurably in recent years, and the city has invested in infrastructure including a business park and fiber optic telecommunications. Housing values in the area are competitive with the state benchmark. The town has a traditional downtown core with City Hall and a public library, plus an extensive parks and trail system. Walkability is limited by an auto-oriented layout, and there is no public transit identified. For a family, this is a setting where the school sits within an expanding town, and the broader district draws from multiple small communities.

A parent should evaluate whether the grade-level variation in test results is an isolated issue or part of a pattern by talking to the school about instructional supports, particularly for fifth grade math and reading. The strong third grade math and sixth grade reading outcomes suggest that the school can deliver solid results, but consistency across all grades is not yet there based on the single year of data available. For a family whose child is in the early elementary years and who values the small-town, exurban setting, Lonsdale Pre K-6 offers a moderately sized school with a mix of results worth investigating further.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 378%

School 78% · District 64% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 56 pts above county median

Grade 461%

School 61% · District 56% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 39 pts above county median

Grade 524%

School 24% · District 26% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 648%

School 48% · District 45% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 40 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 349%

School 49% · District 45% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Grade 453%

School 53% · District 44% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 33 pts above county median

Grade 539%

School 39% · District 52% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 665%

School 65% · District 61% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

Science

Grade 521%

School 21% · District 23% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median · even with county median

This schoolTRI-CITY UNITED 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 3Lower-income50%Higher-income48%2 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income29%Higher-income44%15 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income75%Higher-income79%4 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income7%Higher-income31%24 pp gap