The top reported proficiency rate is 72% in Math. The lowest is 65% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Delano Elementary
Delano Elementary serves students from prekindergarten through third grade in the Delano Public School District, a small-city system in Wright County roughly a half-hour west of downtown Minneapolis. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and it operates as the entry point for the district’s youngest learners.
The student body is predominantly White, with small shares of students who are Hispanic, Asian, Black, or of two or more races. About one in seven students qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a rate that is low compared with many Minnesota public schools. Because the school serves only the early elementary grades, there is no graduation rate — that metric applies to the high school level, not to this building.
Delano Elementary has a single year of state testing results available, from the 2024-25 school year, with third graders assessed in math and reading. In math, roughly three out of four students met proficiency standards. In reading, roughly two out of three did. These results place the school well above the midpoint when compared with other public schools in Wright County on a combined proficiency index — the school sits in the top quarter of the countywide set. It is worth noting that testing data covers only one grade and one school year, so a longer trend is not yet visible.
The school’s enrollment is sizable for a PK-3 building, with a few hundred students across the kindergarten through third grade classrooms and a smaller prekindergarten program. This is the largest single elementary building in the district, and the town of Delano has grown markedly in population in recent decades, though the city describes its pace as steady and aimed at preserving a small-town feel. Housing values in the Delano zip code are above the national median, and the local tax rate is publicly described as one of the lowest in Minnesota, which may be relevant for families weighing the cost of living.
The district operates three schools within the city — Delano Elementary, an intermediate school, and the high school — and parochial options also exist in town. The district brief turned up no major parent-relevant changes, such as boundary shifts, program launches, or budget developments, in recent years. For a family considering Delano Elementary, the key takeaway is that it shows strong proficiency results from its one tested grade, in a growing exurban community with relatively low poverty rates among its families and housing costs above the national norm. Parents who want to understand how the school serves students with disabilities or English learners will find those counts are not reported in the available data, so that is a question to raise directly with the school.
See more original research from School Decision →