The top reported proficiency rate is 68% in Math. The lowest is 56% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Prairie Woods Elementary
Prairie Woods Elementary serves students from pre-kindergarten through fourth grade in New London, a small city in Kandiyohi County. It is a regular public school within the New London-Spicer School District, which also covers the nearby community of Spicer. The school is housed in a single building on a county road just outside New London's compact downtown core. For a parent considering this school, the most immediately striking feature is its academic performance, which stands apart from the surrounding district and county averages.
On the most recent state assessments, Prairie Woods posted proficiency rates that place its overall performance well above the midpoint among elementary schools in its county. In mathematics, a substantial majority of tested third and fourth graders met the state standard. In English language arts, proficiency came in above half of tested students in each grade, a result that still outperforms most schools in the county comparison set. A parent will want to note that these represent a single year's results, and the school does not yet have a multi-year trend to show, but the available data is clear: this is a school where a large share of students are meeting grade-level benchmarks.
The student body is about the size you would expect for a school covering pre-K through fourth grade in a small-town district. The enrollment is predominantly white. A notable minority of students are Hispanic, a share roughly in line with the broader region's demographics. Other race and ethnic groups each make up a very small fraction of the population. A meaningful portion of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that the school serves a mix of household incomes. No data is available in the current record for special education classification or English learner status, so a parent with a child in either category will want to ask the school directly about its specific programs and supports.
Prairie Woods does not serve grades that produce a graduation rate, since its youngest students leave the building after fourth grade and move on to another school in the district that serves the upper elementary and secondary grades. There is no data on chronic absenteeism in this record. The school is not a charter, and its status as a Title I school is not listed in the available information.
New London itself is a small lakes-region town with a walkable core around a historic millpond. The city hosts community events like Porch Fest, a music festival held annually, and Sibley State Park is nearby, offering outdoor recreation. The local economy historically included a creamery and a glove factory, though the state operates a fish hatchery on the former mill site today. The town's population has shown modest growth in recent years. Housing values in the area are somewhat below the state median, and the market is more affordable than the national average, which may matter to families relocating to the district.
The school is part of a district that spans New London and Spicer, two towns with similar small-city character. The district brief turned up no recent major changes such as boundary shifts, new buildings, or program overhauls that a parent would need to track. Between the strong academic showing and the absence of flagged disruptions, Prairie Woods Elementary looks like a stable, high-performing entry point for a family in the area. The main thing a parent would want to investigate further is the transition after fourth grade, to see how the upper-grade schools in the district serve students as they move up.
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