W.h.a. Elementary, Walker MN - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on W.h.a. Elementary

W.H.A. Elementary serves students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade in Walker, Minnesota, a small city that functions as the county seat of Cass County and a tourist hub on the southwest shore of Leech Lake. The school is a regular public elementary school within the Walker-Hackensack-Akeley School District, a consolidated district formed from earlier local districts. Enrollment is of a size typical for a rural elementary school. A substantial share of students come from low-income households, as reflected in the free and reduced-price lunch count. The student body is predominantly white, with a notable proportion of American Indian or Alaska Native students and a smaller share of students who identify as two or more races. The school serves a community where county government, tourism and recreation, and the school district itself are major employers.

The school district has adopted the High Reliability Schools framework, a structured approach to instruction based on the research of Dr. Robert Marzano, and was certified as a Level 2 School, a distinction publicly reported as held by only two districts in Minnesota. This represents a deliberate, district-wide pedagogical shift that shapes how teaching and learning occur at W.H.A. Elementary.

State assessment results for the most recent year show a pattern that varies by grade and subject. In math, proficiency rates among tested students trend downward from the third-grade level through sixth grade, with the highest share seen in the youngest tested grade and the lowest in the oldest. In English language arts, proficiency rates across the four tested grades are similar to each other, with no single grade diverging sharply from the rest. Science results, available for fifth grade only, reflect a lower proficiency rate than the school’s ELA and math outcomes in that same grade. A parent may want to discuss with the school how these grade-level patterns are addressed in instruction and support. Overall, across all tested subjects and grades, the school’s combined proficiency index landed above the midpoint when compared against other districts in Cass County.

The housing market in the area carries a value that is roughly comparable to the statewide benchmark. The town itself is described by its own city materials as having grown slowly and steadily; its population has remained small with minimal recent change. Walker has a walkable downtown core along Minnesota Avenue, with the paved Paul Bunyan Trail running through town and connecting to the Heartland Trail, a feature that draws bicyclists. The city park on Leech Lake includes tennis courts, a playground, and a swimming beach. Street life is concentrated along the main commercial strip near the lakefront, with shops and eateries. It is the kind of setting where the school is part of the fabric of a small county seat rather than a separate campus removed from the community.

Data on discipline, attendance, staffing, and course access were not available in this profile. For an elementary school serving only pre-kindergarten through sixth grade, there is no graduation rate, because that metric applies only to high schools. Those gaps mean families may want to ask the school directly about areas such as chronic absenteeism and student support resources. The school’s adoption of the HRS framework may be a useful starting point for a conversation about how the school measures and responds to student needs across the elementary years.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 358%

School 58% · District 58%

▲ 3 pts above state median

Grade 442%

School 42% · District 42%

▼ 9 pts below state median

Grade 525%

School 25% · District 25%

▼ 10 pts below state median

Grade 613%

School 13% · District 13%

▼ 15 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 338%

School 38% · District 38%

▼ 4 pts below state median

Grade 437%

School 37% · District 37%

▼ 4 pts below state median

Grade 541%

School 41% · District 41%

▼ 13 pts below state median

Grade 638%

School 38% · District 38%

▼ 8 pts below state median

Science

Grade 515%

School 15% · District 15%

▼ 9 pts below state median

This schoolWALKER-HACKENSACK-AKELEY SCHL. DIST, 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-income33%Higher-income45%12 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income27%Higher-income50%24 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income26%Higher-income58%32 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income31%Higher-income54%23 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income53%Higher-income65%12 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income24%Higher-income65%42 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income14%Higher-income38%23 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income6%Higher-income31%25 pp gap