Mckinley Elementary, Owatonna MN

Original Research by School Decision on Mckinley Elementary

McKinley Elementary serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Owatonna, a city that functions as an economic hub for southern Minnesota. The city is home to corporate headquarters including Federated Insurance and Viracon, along with manufacturers such as Bosch and Jostens, and sits at the crossroads of Interstate 35 and U.S. Highways 14. Owatonna grew over the 2010s, with most of Steele County’s growth occurring within the city. Residential development has pushed northeast, north, and southeast from the older downtown core along the Straight River. Housing values in the area sit near the midpoint for the state, and rents are moderate relative to incomes. The city’s operating levy per student is among the lowest in its conference, meaning the district relies less on local property taxes than peer districts do, which affects homeowner tax burden.

McKinley is a regular public school with a student body that is about 483 students. Just under half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student population is majority white, with Hispanic and Black students each making up roughly a sixth of enrollment, and a small share of students who are Asian or of two or more races. The school does not report data on students with Individualized Education Programs or English learners, so the share of students receiving those supports is not available in this data.

On state assessments administered in the 2024-25 school year, the school’s results varied across grades and subjects. In reading, proficiency rates among tested grades ranged from about a third to nearly two-thirds of students meeting the standard, with the highest performance in fifth grade. In math, proficiency rates across grades three through five clustered around two-fifths of students. Fifth-grade science results showed roughly a quarter of students proficient. Taken together, overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places McKinley below the midpoint among Steele County’s districts. Because only one year of state testing data was reported for this school, it is not possible to see whether performance has been trending up or down in recent years.

The school’s grade band means there is no graduation rate, as McKinley does not serve high school grades.

Parents considering McKinley should note that the data shows a range in academic performance. Reading results in fifth grade are notably stronger than in the earlier tested grades, while math and science results are softer across the board. A parent may want to ask the school about the specific instructional supports available for math and for early literacy in grades three and four. The absence of data on special education and English learner enrollment is a gap that families with children who receive those services may want to discuss directly with the school to understand staffing and programming.

The school’s location in a growing city with a mix of manufacturing, insurance, and agricultural equipment employment gives it a stable economic base. The district recently completed a major high school construction project in the southeastern part of town, reflecting a broader investment in school facilities. For families living in or moving to Owatonna and looking at McKinley Elementary, the school offers a neighborhood elementary experience in a community with a low-tax levy and a diversified local economy, with academic results that are on the lower end of the county range in math and science and uneven across reading by grade.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 347%

School 47% · District 55% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median

Grade 440%

School 40% · District 55% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median

Grade 541%

School 41% · District 38% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 332%

School 32% · District 38% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median

Grade 430%

School 30% · District 40% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median

Grade 564%

School 64% · District 53% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 10 pts above state median

Science

Grade 527%

School 27% · District 22% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 3 pts above state median

This schoolOWATONNA 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-income19%Higher-income46%27 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income9%Higher-income58%49 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income47%Higher-income78%31 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income34%Higher-income60%26 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income21%Higher-income67%46 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income17%Higher-income61%44 pp gap