The top reported proficiency rate is 0% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Little Mountain Elementary - Snw
Little Mountain Elementary - SNW is not a standard neighborhood elementary school. It is a special education school within the Sherburne and Northern Wright Special Education Cooperative, a structure that governs special education operations across the member districts of Becker, Big Lake, and Monticello. The school serves students in kindergarten through sixth grade. The small enrollment of the school reflects its specialized purpose. Families whose children are placed here by their home district will find a setting designed around special education services, not a general elementary program.
The school is located in Monticello, a city in Wright County that sits along the Mississippi River and has seen steady growth, particularly near the Interstate 94 corridor. Monticello has built out extensive retail and industrial development in recent years and maintains a system of parks and trails. The city’s population has grown noticeably since the 2020 census. For families coming from the broader area, the school is situated in a community with a mix of residential areas and commercial strips, and the school building itself is on Fallon Avenue, within the Monticello area.
State testing data for Little Mountain Elementary - SNW is essentially not available for standard interpretation. For mathematics and English language arts, the reported proficiency rate across tested grades was a reported zero percent. For science, the result for the one tested grade was suppressed due to the small number of students tested. Academic trend data shows only a single year of information, so there is no track record to evaluate growth or decline. Parents should understand that these figures apply to a very small number of test-takers in a special education setting, and they do not carry the same meaning as results from a general elementary school. The school’s overall proficiency index, when compared against all schools in Wright County, places in the bottom quartile, but again, this is a comparison of a special education school’s results against the full range of district schools in the county. A family should discuss with the cooperative what academic expectations and assessments are used for their child’s program.
The neighborhood comparison data shows other standard metrics, such as a four-year graduation rate and chronic absenteeism rate, as not applicable for this school. That is because the school does not serve high school grades and does not produce a graduating class from its own program.
Demographically, the school’s student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Hispanic students and students of two or more races. Data on free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, special education classification, and English learner status were not available in the records. Given the school’s identity as a special education school, most students will have an individualized education program, but the specific count was missing from the data.
No information was available on course access, staffing ratios, discipline rates, or attendance. The district brief indicates that the cooperative underwent a significant restructuring in 2021, when the member districts revised and ratified a new Joint Powers Agreement that governs all special education operations, services, and programs. For families, this means the cooperative operates with a single director of special education and a governing board with one representative from each member district. This consolidation is the most notable recent administrative change.
Housing in the Monticello area is roughly around state averages for home values, with rents also near those benchmarks. The area’s economy includes major employers like the Monticello nuclear plant, a medical center, and large retail and manufacturing employers, which may be relevant for families relocating.
For families considering Little Mountain Elementary - SNW, the core question is whether the specialized special education program fits a particular student’s needs. The school is not a general elementary option, and its size and assessment profile are atypical. The 2021 governance change and the cooperative structure mean that parents will work with their home district and the cooperative’s central administration. Families should reach out directly to the cooperative to understand the specific programs, therapies, and instructional approaches available, as well as how transition and integration with the home district work.
See more original research from School Decision →