Red Lake County Central Elementary, Plummer MN

Original Research by School Decision on Red Lake County Central Elementary

Red Lake County Central Elementary serves students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade in Plummer, Minnesota, a very small, primarily residential rural town. The school is part of the Red Lake County Central Public Schools district, and its enrollment is small. The student body is overwhelmingly white, with a modest share of students from other racial and ethnic backgrounds.

The school is located in a car-dependent town where most residents drive alone to work. Commute times suggest many residents work outside Plummer itself. The local economy is modest, with retail trade, manufacturing, and health care as the largest employment sectors. Housing values in the area are lower than the state benchmark, and the national economic context shows a 30-year fixed mortgage rate that has been hovering in the mid-six percent range.

State testing data from the most recent school year shows a mixed picture. In math, proficiency rates vary noticeably by grade. Third-grade students posted a rate that was a strength for the school, while fourth graders also performed well. Fifth and sixth grade math proficiency dropped considerably. In English language arts, fourth and fifth graders showed strong proficiency, while third graders and sixth graders were lower. In science, the only tested grade was fifth, which reported a proficiency rate that was below the others. The school’s overall proficiency index, which averages across tested subjects and grades, sits above the midpoint when compared with other districts in Red Lake County.

Because the school serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to report. Chronic absenteeism data was not available. The school does not offer high school level programs, so there are no AP, career, or dual-credit pathways.

Families considering this school will find a small rural elementary environment. The academic results are uneven, with strong showings in some grades and subjects and significant drops in others, particularly in math as students move into the upper elementary years. A parent may want to talk with the school about how it supports students who are not yet proficient, especially after third grade. The district had no publicly reported major changes or initiatives in the recent period that would shape a parent's decision.

The town itself is very quiet. Civic life is centered on a small downtown corridor with City Hall and the Post Office, and there is no information about public parks, a library, or public transit. Population in Plummer has grown recently, and median household income has also increased, but no new housing developments were identified in the search. The area is not an active growth market, and the housing stock is affordable relative to the state. For a family that values a small, rural setting with a neighborly scale, this school fits that profile. For a family concerned about rising proficiency in the later elementary grades, it is worth a closer look.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 368%

School 68% · District 68%

▲ 13 pts above state median

Grade 463%

School 63% · District 63%

▲ 11 pts above state median

Grade 529%

School 29% · District 29%

▼ 6 pts below state median

Grade 624%

School 24% · District 24%

▼ 3 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 327%

School 27% · District 27%

▼ 14 pts below state median

Grade 467%

School 67% · District 67%

▲ 26 pts above state median

Grade 555%

School 55% · District 55%

▲ 1 pts above state median

Grade 646%

School 46% · District 46%

even with state median

Science

Grade 523%

School 23% · District 23%

▼ 2 pts below state median

This schoolRED LAKE COUNTY CENTRAL PUBLIC SCH, 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-income41%Higher-income71%30 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income18%Higher-income58%40 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income24%Higher-income36%12 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income9%Higher-income31%22 pp gap