The top reported proficiency rate is 67% in English language arts. The lowest is 29% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Chatfield Elementary School
Chatfield Elementary serves students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade in the Chatfield Public Schools district, a regular public school in a small southeastern Minnesota town that straddles the Fillmore and Olmsted county line. The school is the only elementary in the district and feeds into Chatfield Secondary School for grades seven through twelve.
The student body is predominantly white, with a very small share of students from other racial and ethnic backgrounds based on available data. Approximately a quarter of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The school enrollment is moderate for a pre-K through sixth grade building, and grades are fairly balanced across kindergarten through sixth grade, with a smaller pre-kindergarten program. Information on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the data, so a family with a child in either of those categories may want to ask the school directly about its programs and staffing.
Academically, Chatfield Elementary posted results that place it well above the midpoint among districts in Fillmore County on an overall proficiency index that combines math, reading, and science. The available state assessment data is from a single year, so there is no multi-year trend to show whether performance has been stable, improving, or declining. In math, proficiency rates were solidly above the majority in third grade, remained at a strong level in fourth grade, dropped to a still-majority level in fifth grade, and then fell below half in sixth grade. In English language arts, proficiency was also strong in third grade, dipped a bit in fourth grade, recovered in fifth grade, and settled at a level above the majority threshold in sixth grade. The pattern shows that younger grades performed at a higher level than the older grades within the school, particularly in math, where the sixth-grade result was notably lower. Science testing is administered only at fifth grade, and those results were below the majority level, a point a parent may want to discuss further with the school.
The school itself is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and no Title I status was reported in the data. Information on discipline, course access, staffing ratios, and attendance was not available, so a parent cannot assess those dimensions from this profile alone.
The broader district context is notable. In May 2024, voters approved a bond referendum to build a new pre-K through sixth grade elementary school behind the current high school and middle school building, along with district-wide deferred maintenance and safety improvements, plus a multi-purpose activity space. The current elementary school was built many decades ago and had aging infrastructure issues including roof problems, failing boilers, and HVAC needs. This means Chatfield Elementary families will move into a brand-new building in the near future, a change that is likely to reshape the school's physical environment and facilities.
Chatfield itself is a compact, historic town of modest size with a traditional Main Street, a single stoplight, and a mix of residential, commercial, and light industrial uses. It sits about a short commute from Rochester. Housing values in the area are around the state benchmark, and the median home value and rent in town are roughly in line with a family's typical income in the region. The town has shown slow, incremental growth and has an active economic development department. The community's civic and cultural anchors include a public library, a center for the arts in a renovated school building, and an annual Western Days festival.
For a family considering Chatfield Elementary, the picture is of a school with academic performance that is strong in the early grades compared to its county peers, with a noticeable softening in the upper elementary years that warrants a conversation. The school serves a largely homogenous student body in terms of race and ethnicity, and the share of students from low-income households is moderate. The upcoming new elementary building is a major facility upgrade that will change the school experience. The town itself offers a quiet, small-town setting with basic amenities and reasonable proximity to Rochester, and the housing market is in line with state averages. A family that values a traditional small-town elementary school with strong early-grade results and a new facility on the horizon would find this a natural fit, while a family seeking more diversity or a wider array of specialized programs in the elementary years would want to look further.
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