The top reported proficiency rate is 27% in Math. The lowest is 25% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Grygla Elementary
Grygla Elementary serves students from preschool through sixth grade in the tiny, predominantly agricultural community of Grygla, Minnesota. The town itself, founded by homesteading pioneers in the late 1890s with deep Norwegian roots, has been in a period of population decline. Its character is rural and residential, with limited commercial activity and no large employers within the town; residents commute to nearby communities such as Thief River Falls for work. The city government has been actively seeking to attract business and industry, and the school district itself is likely a significant local employer. The elementary school shares an address with the secondary school, placing the district’s educational life at the center of town.
Grygla Elementary is a regular public school and not a charter or magnet. Its enrollment is small, with students spread across each grade from kindergarten through sixth, plus a handful of preschoolers. The student body is predominantly white, and a substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The school serves a grade band that does not extend into high school, so there is no graduation rate to report.
State assessment results from the most recent school year are available for math and English language arts in grades three through six, and for science in grade five, though the science result is suppressed due to very small student counts and therefore not reported. The testing data shows a mixed picture. In grade four, a majority of students met the state proficiency standard in both math and reading. In grade six, the share meeting the standard in math was close to half, while in reading it was somewhat lower. In grades three and five, however, none of the tested students reached the proficiency threshold in either subject. The multi-year trend shows only a single year of data, so no change over time can be assessed. The school’s overall proficiency index, which averages results across tested subjects and grades, places Grygla Elementary in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in Marshall County. A parent may want to discuss with the school how it supports students across different grade levels and what interventions are available for those who are not yet meeting benchmarks.
The district undertook a significant capital construction investment in a recent fiscal year—a notable step for a district of this size—suggesting that facilities may have seen recent improvements that affect the learning environment.
For families considering Grygla Elementary, the key factors are the very small scale of the school, the rural and declining local economy, and the variable academic results across grades. The peer context within Marshall County indicates that overall proficiency is lower than that of most neighboring districts. The school’s setting means that class sizes are likely very small, and the co-location with the secondary school may create a close-knit feel across age groups. Housing in the area is more affordable than state and national benchmarks, consistent with the region’s remote character. There is no data available on chronic absenteeism or on staffing ratios, so those dimensions cannot be assessed here. The school’s grade band ends at sixth, after which students would move to Grygla Secondary School in the same building, so the transition is a short one.
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