The top reported proficiency rate is 47% in English language arts. The lowest is 15% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Cottage Grove Middle School
Cottage Grove Middle School serves grades six through eight in the South Washington County Schools district, a regular public school with an enrollment typical for a mid-sized suburban middle school in this corridor. The student body is predominantly white, with a significant composite of Asian, Black, Hispanic, and multiracial students making up the rest; just over three in ten students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a share that places the school within the middle range of economic diversity for the area. The school is part of a growing community. Cottage Grove has been adding population rapidly, and its land-use plans describe a suburb that is actively expanding its residential base and commercial corridors while retaining substantial parkland and open space. The housing market reflects that demand: home values and rents in the surrounding zip code are elevated relative to national medians, and the typical mortgage outpaces the typical rent, which points to a market where buying in requires a solid income. For a family moving to this part of Washington County, the school sits in a context of suburban growth, car-dependent daily life, and a community that markets itself as convenient to the Twin Cities.
Academically, the picture is mixed and should give a parent a set of specific things to ask about. On state reading assessments, across all three grades tested, roughly between four in ten and half of students met proficiency standards. Math proficiency was lower, ranging from just over a quarter of sixth graders to just under four in ten eighth graders. The eighth-grade science proficiency rate was markedly lower, around the level that would prompt a close look at the school’s science instruction and curriculum. When compared with other districts in Washington County on overall proficiency across tested grades and subjects, Cottage Grove Middle School places in the bottom quartile of the county. The county contains a number of high-performing districts, so a bottom-quartile position here signals a real gap relative to the strongest local peers. The data contains only a single year of test results across all subjects, with no prior-year trend lines to show whether these numbers represent a stable pattern or a recent shift; that is an important gap. A parent who wants to understand the school’s trajectory will need to ask the district for prior-year results and for any improvement plans currently in place.
There is no graduation rate to report because this is a middle school. The same is true for chronic absenteeism data: the information was not available in the data provided. On the civil rights and discipline front, the data is silent as well, so a parent with specific concerns about climate, behavior, or support for students with disabilities or English learners should raise those directly with the school. The data also did not include a breakdown of students receiving special education services or English learner support, which are important factors in understanding how the school allocates resources and attention. The school does not appear to operate under a Title I designation, so its federal funding stream for low-income students is not in place, though the free and reduced-price lunch share suggests a meaningful number of families who could benefit from supplemental programming.
The district brief noted that a search for recent parent-relevant changes in South Washington County Schools did not return specific information; the search budget was exhausted before lasting changes could be confirmed. That means a parent should check directly with the district office for any boundary changes, program expansions, staffing shifts, or building plans that could affect the middle school years. The school itself offers nothing in the way of publicly listed specialized programs or magnets in the data, so what a family sees is the standard middle school course of study within a large suburban district.
For a family weighing this school, the takeaway is straightforward. The setting is a fast-growing, comfortable, car-oriented suburb with strong housing demand and ample parks. The school serves a moderately diverse middle-class population. The academic numbers, however, are lower than many Washington County alternatives, especially in math and science, and the school sits near the bottom of the county on overall proficiency. A parent who values a high baseline of test performance or is concerned about science and math preparation will want to investigate further. The school may be a very good fit for a family that prioritizes neighborhood proximity, the size and feel of the community, and the broader district resources, but the proficiency data suggests there is work to do in core academic areas.
See more original research from School Decision →