The top reported proficiency rate is 41% in English language arts. The lowest is 14% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Fertile-beltrami Secondary
Fertile-Beltrami Secondary serves students in grades seven through twelve in the small agricultural town of Fertile, Minnesota. The school is the secondary wing of the wider Fertile-Beltrami Public School, a shared K-12 building that serves Fertile and the nearby community of Beltrami. The town itself is a rural hub in Polk County, with a compact main street along Mill Street and a surrounding landscape of corn, soybean, wheat, and sugar beet farms. The local economy is agricultural, with hunting and fishing also playing a role, and the area has a strong Norwegian heritage. The town has seen a slight population decline in recent years, and the mayor has publicly noted city debt and the need for main street business support as concerns. The school is located within the town center, at the intersection of Mill Street and Jefferson Avenue, placing it within walking distance for families living in the immediate residential streets.
The student body is small, with enrollment distributed fairly evenly across grades seven through twelve. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, an indicator that the school serves a community with notable economic need. The student population is predominantly white, with smaller shares of students who are Hispanic, American Indian or Alaska Native, or identify as two or more races. The proportion of students receiving special education services or who are English learners was not reported, so a parent may want to ask the school about its support programs for those populations directly.
On state assessments, which in Minnesota measure proficiency in reading, math, and science, the school’s results sit below the midpoint among Polk County districts. In seventh-grade math, about two out of every five students scored proficient, and in eighth-grade math, a similar share did so. In reading, just under half of eighth graders were proficient, while the seventh-grade reading proficiency rate was lower. Science results for eighth grade were softer, with a small minority of students meeting the proficiency bar. The state changed the science assessment and its cut scores in the tested year, so those results should be interpreted with that change in mind. The school had only a single year of data for its accountability measures, so there is no trend to examine yet. A parent considering the school would want to understand what academic supports are in place and how the school addresses gaps in core subject performance.
The graduation rate was not available in the data. Because this is a school that serves high school grades, the absence of this metric is a notable gap. A parent should ask the school for its four-year graduation rate directly.
The district brief did not turn up any recent referendums, curriculum changes, facility updates, or other parent-relevant developments. That does not mean nothing has happened, only that nothing was found in a targeted search. Families moving into the area may want to contact the district office for the latest on any planned changes.
For families who value a small-school setting in a tight-knit rural community, Fertile-Beltrami Secondary offers a straightforward fit. The school’s central location within town means students can walk or bike, and the broader area provides outdoor recreation like the Agassiz Recreational Trail and the nearby Sand Hills. The academic profile, as measured by state testing, is below the county midpoint, and a family weighing the school should inquire about intervention programs, course offerings at the high school level, and how the school prepares students for college or careers after graduation. The absence of a publicly reported graduation rate is a significant unknown that the school itself should be able to clarify.
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