The top reported proficiency rate is 61% in Math. The lowest is 12% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Richmond Elementary
Richmond Elementary sits within the ROCORI Public School District and serves kindergarten through fifth grade. The school is in the town of Richmond, a small community in Stearns County that retains a rural character while being part of the St. Cloud metropolitan area. The town is set among the region’s granite quarries, which have long shaped the local economy, and it offers a compact downtown with a library, city hall, and parks linked by the Glacial Lakes State Trail, which winds through the city for pedestrians and cyclists.
The school itself is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and enrolls a relatively small number of students for a K–5 building. The student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares identifying as Hispanic and as two or more races. Just under a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker of economic need that is present but not dominant. The school did not report data for students with individualized education programs or English learners, so a parent looking into special education services or language support would want to follow up directly with the building for those details.
State testing results are available for the most recent school year in math, reading, and science. In third-grade math, a substantial majority of students met the state’s proficiency standard, and fifth-grade math was close to that level. Fourth-grade math was markedly lower. In reading, third graders performed at a similar level to their math showing, while fourth-grade reading was a softer area and fifth-grade reading sat just under half proficient. Science results for fifth graders showed a much lower share reaching proficiency. The overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades lands in the top quartile among schools in Stearns County, which suggests that when averaging across all tested areas, Richmond Elementary performs well relative to other schools in the county, but the variation across grades and subjects is wide enough that a parent will want to look grade by grade.
Only one year of assessment data was available, so there is no multi-year trend to judge direction. The state changed both the science assessment name and its cut scores for the most recent year, which means the science result may not be directly comparable with prior years.
The school has no reported data on chronic absenteeism or discipline, and no staffing or course access information was available. Those are gaps a family might want to explore by contacting the school or the district.
Housing values in the Richmond area are broadly in line with state benchmarks, and the town is experiencing steady growth as part of a region that has been among Minnesota’s faster-growing areas. The city offers development incentives like tax increment financing and a revolving loan fund, and publicly reported figures show the population has grown. The district’s website did not turn up recent major changes to programs or policies.
Because Richmond Elementary serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate. High school students in the district attend ROCORI High School in neighboring Cold Spring. Families buying into Richmond should plan for that onward transition.
The school has a core strength in its early-grade math results and a solid overall position among county peers, but the reading and science numbers in the upper elementary grades are mixed enough that a family should look at the specific grade their child would enter. The small enrollment, rural town setting, and steady community growth make this a plausible fit for a family seeking a small-town elementary experience within commuting distance of St. Cloud, where the academic picture is strongest at the early grades and where a parent will want to stay engaged as their child moves up.
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