Washington Elementary, Mankato MN

Original Research by School Decision on Washington Elementary

Washington Elementary is a regular public school serving kindergarten through fifth grade in Mankato, part of the Mankato Public School District. It sits in a mid-sized regional hub that blends residential neighborhoods, a large university presence, and a mix of healthcare, retail, and agricultural industry. The school itself is one of several elementary options within the district.

The student body is diverse in its composition. White students make up the largest share, with Black, Hispanic, Asian, and multiracial students each present in meaningful proportions. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a moderate level of economic need among families. The school is a neighborhood-level building in a community where the largest employer is the school district itself, followed by healthcare, the university, and distribution.

Academically, Washington Elementary posts some clear strengths and areas where a parent may want to dig deeper. In mathematics, proficiency across grades three through five sits at a strong level, well above the midpoint among districts in Blue Earth County. Grade-level results show a consistent pattern, with the highest performance in fourth grade and solid results in third and fifth. Reading and language arts proficiency is more mixed. Third-grade results are modest, while fourth and fifth grades perform at a moderate level. Overall, the school’s combined proficiency index across tested subjects and grades places it in the top quartile among the county’s districts, a strong showing.

Science testing is administered only in fifth grade, and here the picture shifts. Proficiency in science is notably lower than in math or ELA. This gap is worth noting; families may want to ask the school how science instruction is structured and whether there are supports in place to strengthen outcomes in that subject. Because this is the only year of data available, no trend can be assessed.

The school is a regular public school with no charter or magnet designation. It does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to consider. Data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, staffing ratios, and course access were not available, so those areas cannot be characterized here.

Mankato itself provides a stable, college-town environment. The city is home to Minnesota State University, Mankato, the state’s second-largest university by enrollment, and also hosts Bethany Lutheran College and South Central College. The economy is anchored by education, healthcare, and agriculture-related industry. Housing in the area is priced moderately relative to national benchmarks, and rents have seen noticeable growth in recent years. The city offers a downtown civic core, parks and trails along river corridors, and public transit. The district brief turned up little in the way of recent major changes—no referendums or curriculum overhauls were publicly reported that would shift the context for families.

For a family considering Washington Elementary, the academic picture centers on a school that performs well in math overall and sits above most of its county peers on a combined measure. The weaker science results and the uneven ELA scores in third grade suggest that the school’s approach to literacy and science instruction merits a closer look, especially for parents of younger children. The student population reflects a range of backgrounds, and the school serves a community with a mix of university families, long-term residents, and those working in healthcare and industry. A parent who values a strong math foundation and wants to be in a midsize city with a university presence may find this a good fit, while those focused on early literacy or science outcomes may want to ask the school how they address those subjects.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 371%

School 71% · District 69% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Grade 475%

School 75% · District 70% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 566%

School 66% · District 62% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 346%

School 46% · District 55% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 456%

School 56% · District 56%

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 564%

School 64% · District 65% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Science

Grade 518%

School 18% · District 24% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

This schoolMANKATO 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 3Lower-income29%Higher-income60%31 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income38%Higher-income70%32 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income37%Higher-income78%41 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income57%Higher-income81%24 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income50%Higher-income94%44 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income32%Higher-income84%52 pp gap