Belle Plaine Junior High, Belle Plaine MN

Original Research by School Decision on Belle Plaine Junior High

Belle Plaine Junior High is a regular public school serving seventh and eighth graders in the Belle Plaine Public School District. The school shares a campus with the senior high, giving students a single location for grades seven through twelve. The district itself covers a growing community in the Minnesota River Valley, where residential neighborhoods meet a historic downtown core and the city sits roughly midway between the Twin Cities and Mankato. That position gives families access to metro-area jobs while retaining a small-town setting. The community has seen steady population growth, and local anchors include a library with an expansion project underway, parks, trails, and river access.

The school enrolls a few hundred students spread across two grades. The student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Hispanic students and students identifying as two or more races. A notable share of students comes from lower-income households, as reflected in the free- and reduced-price lunch program. Data on special education and English learner status was not available from the source, so a family needing information about those supports should contact the school directly.

On the Minnesota state assessments, proficiency rates in math and reading for both seventh and eighth graders cluster around the halfway mark, with math and reading roughly even in eighth grade and math slightly ahead in seventh. Science results for eighth graders are substantially lower, an area a parent may want to ask the school about further, especially if their child is headed into high school coursework that depends on science preparation. Taking all tested subjects together, the school’s overall proficiency level lands below the midpoint when compared with other districts in Scott County. Only one year of assessment data was available, so no multi-year trend could be established.

Home values in the Belle Plaine area are roughly in line with the statewide median, reflecting an affordability level that is comparable to the broader region. The national mortgage rate context is what families across the country are navigating at present. A review of recent district developments turned up little of lasting impact to report; the Belle Plaine Public School District does not appear to have undertaken major boundary changes, facility overhauls, or leadership transitions in the period examined.

For a family considering this school, the main points to weigh are the mixed academic picture, with math and reading near the middle of the range on state tests and science notably lower, set against a community that is growing and offers a blend of small-town life with metro proximity. The school’s size is modest given it serves only two grades, which may appeal to families who want their child in a contained junior high setting before moving to a combined high school campus.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 751%

School 51% · District 51%

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

Grade 844%

School 44% · District 44%

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 749%

School 49% · District 49%

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 845%

School 45% · District 45%

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Science

Grade 817%

School 17% · District 17%

▲ 5 pts above state median

This schoolBELLE PLAINE PUBLIC 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 7Lower-income46%Higher-income51%5 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income55%Higher-income43%12 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 7Lower-income54%Higher-income50%4 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income45%Higher-income44%1 pp gap