Willow Creek Middle, Rochester MN

Original Research by School Decision on Willow Creek Middle

Willow Creek Middle sits in southeast Rochester, a regular public school serving grades six through eight as part of the Rochester Public School District. The school is not a charter, and there is no public data on its magnet or Title I status.

The school serves a student body that is diverse across multiple demographic lines. The largest racial group is white students, but there is also a meaningful presence of Hispanic students, Black students, students who identify as two or more races, and Asian students, along with small numbers of American Indian and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students. A significant share of the enrollment qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, meaning the school draws from a range of economic backgrounds. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the information provided.

Rochester itself is a mid-sized city driven by the Mayo Clinic, which anchors the economy and downtown. The city is growing modestly, partly through the Destination Medical Center initiative that is funding new development. The school is located on the southeast side of the city, in a residential area. Housing values in the area are a bit lower than the statewide benchmark, and rents are moderate relative to incomes.

Willow Creek’s academic performance, as measured by Minnesota’s state assessments, gives a mixed picture. In English language arts, roughly two-fifths of students met proficiency across the three grades, with sixth graders scoring highest and seventh graders lowest. In math, proficiency was lower across all grade levels, falling below two-fifths of students schoolwide, with seventh graders again the weakest. Science results, tested only in eighth grade, showed about a fifth of students at proficiency. A single year of data makes trend analysis impossible; multi-year data was not available.

Compared to other school districts in Olmsted County, Willow Creek’s overall proficiency index landed below the midpoint of the county-wide range. That comparison places the school in the lower half relative to its county peers, though the county includes a wide spread of outcomes.

This is a school where a parent looking at academic results will want to ask more questions: how support is structured for students who need help in math, especially by seventh grade, and what the school’s approach is to raising ELA proficiency. The lack of data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, and staffing means those important dimensions cannot be assessed from what is provided.

The district has made some recent infrastructure and program additions. A new elementary school opened in 2023 to address growth, which could affect attendance boundaries for Willow Creek over time. The district also launched P-TECH, a program for a combined high school diploma and associate degree path, and has expanded online learning options at both elementary and secondary levels. These are system-wide changes, not specific to Willow Creek, but they add context for families thinking about the full K-12 pathway in this district.

For a parent considering Willow Creek, the takeaway is this is a middle school serving a diverse and economically mixed population in a growing healthcare-centered city. The academic data suggests room for improvement, particularly in math, and a parent would be well served to speak with the school directly about how it identifies and supports students who are not yet at proficiency, and what resources are available for students across different skill levels. The school’s position in the middle of a larger district with new programs at other grade levels means the feeder pattern and the options beyond eighth grade are worth understanding before forming a full picture.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 638%

School 38% · District 31% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 729%

School 29% · District 31% · ▼ 2 pts below district

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

Grade 840%

School 40% · District 36% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 650%

School 50% · District 46% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

Grade 734%

School 34% · District 43% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 844%

School 44% · District 46% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Science

Grade 822%

School 22% · District 20% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

This schoolROCHESTER 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 6Lower-income28%Higher-income61%33 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income13%Higher-income47%34 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income28%Higher-income55%26 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income14%Higher-income50%35 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income8%Higher-income41%33 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income22%Higher-income52%30 pp gap