The top reported proficiency rate is 35% in English language arts. The lowest is 33% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Garfield Elementary
Garfield Elementary serves kindergarten through fourth grade in Brainerd, a mid-sized city in central Minnesota that was founded as a railroad town and now mixes residential neighborhoods, commercial corridors, and light industrial sites. The school is part of Brainerd Public School District and sits in a city that has seen modest population growth and an uptick in development in recent years, with a downtown that offers dining, shops, and arts venues. The broader Brainerd Lakes Area draws seasonal tourism and retirement housing, and the local economy includes public-sector employment, hospitality, and remnants of the paper and railroad industries.
The school’s enrollment is moderate for an elementary serving these grade levels. The student body is predominantly white, with a much smaller share of students who identify as two or more races, an even smaller share who are American Indian or Alaska Native, and very small shares who are Hispanic or Black. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that a significant portion of families in the attendance area face economic challenges.
State testing data is available for grades three and four. In math, the proficiency rate for third graders falls below the midpoint of what one sees across Minnesota schools, while the fourth-grade math rate is higher, landing closer to a typical result. In reading, the third-grade proficiency rate is low, while the fourth-grade rate is higher and closer to a commonly seen benchmark. Because this is the only year of data available, there is no trend to examine, so it is not possible to say whether these results reflect a stable pattern, an anomaly, or a trajectory of improvement. A parent may want to ask the school how the lower third-grade scores are being addressed and whether the jump in fourth grade is consistent from year to year.
The school’s overall proficiency, combining all tested subjects and grades, sits in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in Crow Wing County. That comparison uses a proficiency index that averages the rates reported across tested subjects and grade levels, and it places Garfield below the median among the county’s districts. While this is a soft spot in the data, the school serves only early elementary grades, and performance in those grades does not predict later outcomes in a straightforward way. Still, families who prioritize test scores will want to look into this further with the school and district.
The district brief turned up no confirmed parent-relevant changes in recent years, so this narrative cannot speak to any ongoing initiatives, boundary shifts, or program additions that might affect the school. A parent would need to contact the district directly to learn about any current developments.
For a family considering Garfield Elementary, the picture is of a neighborhood school serving a community with notable economic diversity, where a majority of students come from lower-income households. The academic results are mixed, with fourth-grade performance looking stronger than third-grade performance in both subjects. The school does not serve grades that take high school assessments or produce a graduation rate, so those common reference points are not available here. Parents whose children are entering kindergarten or first grade may find that the school’s small scale and its place within the larger Brainerd district offer a supportive entry point, but they will want to ask about the instructional strategies used to address the weaker third-grade reading results.
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