La Ola Del Lago at Grainwood, Prior Lake MN

Original Research by School Decision on La Ola Del Lago at Grainwood

La Ola Del Lago at Grainwood is a regular public elementary school serving kindergarten through fifth grade within the Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools district. It draws from a fast-growing exurban community about a half-hour’s drive southwest of Minneapolis, in one of the fastest-growing counties in Minnesota. The school sits on a separate campus from the district’s middle and high schools, typical for a suburban elementary.

The student body is predominantly white, with a substantial Hispanic minority and small shares of Asian, Black, and multiracial students. A modest share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a generally higher-income peer environment. The school enrolls a population that is large enough to offer grade-level sections and some instructional grouping but not so large that it feels crowded; the district’s failed bond referendum for a new elementary school suggests that facility capacity is a live concern as the area grows.

State assessment results from the most recent school year show generally solid, though uneven, performance across subjects and grades. In mathematics, proficiency rates vary by grade: earlier grades perform well, while fifth grade shows a softer result that a parent may want to discuss with the school. In English language arts, the picture is stronger, with consistently solid proficiency in grades three and four and notably high proficiency in fifth grade. Science, tested only in fifth grade, is the weakest area, with a smaller share of students meeting the standard. The science test also underwent a name and cut-score change that year, making direct comparison to prior years uncertain. Overall, the school’s combined proficiency across tested subjects and grades places it in the top quarter when measured against the set of districts in Scott County—an encouraging signal for families comparing local options. Because this is an elementary school, there is no graduation rate to report.

The community context reinforces a sense of stability and investment. Prior Lake is a primarily residential suburb with a small-town downtown of boutiques, a brewery, and restaurants. Housing values are above both state and national medians, and rents are similarly elevated, reflecting the desirability of the area for commuters and families drawn to its lakes, parks, and trail network. The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community and Mystic Lake Casino are major local employers and economic anchors. The school district itself recently secured an operating levy increase to fund class size management, mental health support, and program maintenance, which provides a degree of financial predictability for the school’s core services. However, voters rejected a bond that would have added classroom space and a new elementary school, leaving capacity constraints unresolved in a district that continues to grow.

For a family considering La Ola Del Lago at Grainwood, the school offers a solid academic base, particularly in reading, and a peer group shaped by a relatively affluent, growing suburban community. Parents may want to explore the dip in fifth-grade math and the lower science proficiency, as well as ask how the school addresses those areas. The broader district context—rising enrollment without immediate facility expansion—means that class sizes and building use could be a topic of ongoing interest for families planning to stay through the elementary years.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 365%

School 65% · District 69% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▲ 10 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 469%

School 69% · District 74% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

Grade 552%

School 52% · District 50% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 356%

School 56% · District 55% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 461%

School 61% · District 60% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 578%

School 78% · District 69% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Science

Grade 530%

School 30% · District 32% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

This schoolPRIOR LAKE-SAVAGE AREA SCHOOLS, 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 4Lower-income40%Higher-income65%25 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income40%Higher-income75%35 pp gap