Levi P. Dodge Middle School, Farmington MN

Original Research by School Decision on Levi P. Dodge Middle School

Levi P. Dodge Middle School serves sixth through eighth graders in Farmington, part of the Farmington Area Public Schools district. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet.

The student body is predominantly white, with a meaningful presence of Hispanic and Black students and smaller shares of Asian, multiracial, and Native American students. More than a quarter of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, giving the school a moderate level of economic diversity. The state did not report the share of students with individualized education plans or English learner status in the data provided.

On state assessments, results present a mixed picture. In English language arts, roughly half of students met proficiency standards across sixth, seventh, and eighth grades, with a gradual increase as students moved up. Mathematics proficiency was lower, hovering around one-third of students meeting the bar across all three grades. Science results in eighth grade fell steeply below that, with only about one in ten students meeting the state proficiency standard. The data noted that the science assessment underwent a name and cut score change that year, so a parent may want to ask the school directly how current science instruction aligns with the new exam expectations.

Compared with other districts in Dakota County, the school stands near the middle of the pack. Its overall proficiency across all tested subjects and grades sits just above the county midpoint. That places it solidly in the average range but not among the strongest performers in the county.

Farmington is a growing suburban community within the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. Housing values have risen modestly, and rents are high enough that owning a home costs considerably more than renting. The area is largely residential, with a historic downtown and newer subdivisions stretching north, connected by trails along the Vermillion River. Recent growth has spurred district changes: voters approved a major bond in 2024 to expand and renovate the high school, the school board redrew elementary attendance boundaries in 2025 to balance enrollment, and the district adopted a new literacy curriculum across elementary schools starting that same year. Full-day kindergarten became free district-wide in 2023. The district also renewed an operating levy in 2021 that funds class size reduction and mental health support.

These changes signal a district actively managing growth and updating its academic programming, particularly at the elementary level. What that means for a middle school is less direct. Levi P. Dodge sits between these elementary reforms and the high school expansion, and its own academics will likely draw attention as those upstream changes take hold.

A few important gaps in the data matter for a parent's decision. The school did not report any information on chronic absenteeism, discipline rates, staffing ratios, or course access. Without those, it is hard to know how the school supports students day to day or what kinds of elective and advanced options exist. There is no graduation rate to report, as the school does not serve high school grades. A parent considering Levi P. Dodge would want to visit, speak with current families, and ask about classroom climate, enrichment offerings, and how the school supports students who are not yet meeting proficiency benchmarks. The core academic picture is average for the county, with a notable soft spot in eighth-grade science that warrants a conversation.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 632%

School 32% · District 37% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▲ 5 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 731%

School 31% · District 33% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 7 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 836%

School 36% · District 36%

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 646%

School 46% · District 49% · ▼ 4 pts below district

even with state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 747%

School 47% · District 45% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 850%

School 50% · District 41% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Science

Grade 811%

School 11% · District 13% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

This schoolFARMINGTON 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 6Lower-income29%Higher-income51%22 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income34%Higher-income51%17 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income32%Higher-income56%24 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income15%Higher-income37%22 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income14%Higher-income37%23 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income20%Higher-income41%21 pp gap