Kenyon-wanamingo Middle, Kenyon MN

Original Research by School Decision on Kenyon-wanamingo Middle

Kenyon-Wanamingo Middle School serves students in grades five through eight in the small town of Kenyon, Minnesota. It is a regular public school that sits within the Kenyon-Wanamingo School District. The school’s enrollment is modest for a middle school, and its student body is predominantly white, with a smaller share of Hispanic students and very small numbers of students who are Black, Asian, American Indian or Alaska Native, or of two or more races. Around a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is a common measure of economic need. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the records reviewed.

The school’s academic performance on Minnesota’s state assessments shows a mixed picture. In math, the share of students meeting proficiency standards rises with each grade level, from roughly a quarter of fifth graders up to just under half of eighth graders. In English language arts, the pattern is more uneven: a little over half of fifth graders and a slightly larger share of sixth graders met the bar, while seventh and eighth graders came in below half. Science proficiency was low for both tested grades, at roughly a quarter of fifth graders and a little over a quarter of eighth graders. The district brief noted that no news articles or recent policy changes were found for the Kenyon-Wanamingo district, so a parent seeking context on curriculum direction or recent initiatives would need to reach out to the school directly.

Looking at how this school compares with others, the available data places it relative to other districts in Goodhue County. On an overall proficiency index that averages performance across tested subjects and grades, this school sits below the midpoint of the county’s districts. That is a straightforward observation of where the numbers fall; it does not tell a parent whether this is the right fit for their child, but it does signal that a family focused on top-tier test scores may want to investigate further.

The town of Kenyon itself is a compact, small community with a traditional Main Street known as the Boulevard of Roses, which gives the town its annual Rosefest festival each August. The town was founded along the North Fork of the Zumbro River, and its civic life centers on that downtown corridor, where city offices are located. Housing values in the area are moderate relative to state and national benchmarks. The town has seen modest population growth in recent years. No information on major employers or new housing developments surfaced in the research, so the local economic picture for a family considering a move would require a closer look at the broader job market in Goodhue County and the surrounding region.

Kenyon-Wanamingo Middle School presents as a small, community-anchored school with a largely homogeneous student population and an economic mix that includes a notable share of families with lower incomes. Its state test results are uneven, with some grades and subjects showing higher proficiency than others, and the overall academic picture is below the county median. A parent considering this school would benefit from talking with the school about curriculum, support for students who are behind in math or reading, and how the middle school prepares students for high school, given that graduation rate data is not applicable at this grade level. The absence of a graduation rate is simply because the school does not serve high school grades, so that metric does not apply.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 525%

School 25% · District 25%

▼ 10 pts below state median

Grade 635%

School 35% · District 35%

▲ 7 pts above state median

Grade 739%

School 39% · District 39%

▲ 14 pts above state median

Grade 845%

School 45% · District 45%

▲ 20 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 551%

School 51% · District 51%

▼ 3 pts below state median

Grade 658%

School 58% · District 58%

▲ 12 pts above state median

Grade 746%

School 46% · District 46%

▲ 10 pts above state median

Grade 847%

School 47% · District 47%

▲ 11 pts above state median

Science

Grade 526%

School 26% · District 26%

▲ 1 pts above state median

Grade 827%

School 27% · District 27%

▲ 15 pts above state median

This schoolKENYON-WANAMINGO 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 5Lower-income33%Higher-income60%27 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income50%Higher-income60%10 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income47%Higher-income44%3 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income19%Higher-income56%38 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income18%Higher-income29%11 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income17%Higher-income40%23 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income29%Higher-income44%15 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income19%Higher-income54%35 pp gap