Two Harbors Secondary, Two Harbors MN

Original Research by School Decision on Two Harbors Secondary

Two Harbors Secondary is the single public middle and high school for the Lake Superior Public School District, serving grades six through twelve under one roof in the small Lake Superior shore city of Two Harbors. It is a regular public school, not a charter. The enrollment is moderate for a combined grade span, drawing from a town whose economy blends iron ore shipping, tourism, and light manufacturing, and whose population has been slowly declining. Housing values in the area are below the national median, and the local school budget has recently supported construction spending through a referendum called Anchor Our Future, which families moving in will want to understand for both facility condition and tax implications. The school's student body is overwhelmingly white, with a small share of students identifying as two or more races and very small numbers from other racial and ethnic groups. Roughly a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker of moderate economic need.

On state assessments, the picture is mixed and varies notably by grade and subject. Math proficiency rates in grade six are low, with a modest share of students meeting the standard. By seventh grade, that share climbs to a more substantial level, then drops back in eighth grade. In English language arts, the pattern is similarly uneven: in sixth grade, a modest share of students are proficient; that share rises in seventh grade, then falls in eighth grade. Science proficiency in eighth grade is very low, the weakest of the tested subjects. These results come from a single year of data, and the state has changed both the name of the science assessment and its cut scores, so trends are not yet available. A parent examining these scores should note that the grade-level swings are wide, and that the science result in particular is a soft spot worth discussing with school leadership. The school's overall combined proficiency in math and ELA sits at a moderate level across the tested grades, but the lack of multi-year data means there is no way yet to see whether performance is improving or declining.

The school serves a full range of grades, but no graduation rate was available in the data, so that important measure of high school completion is a gap. Similarly, no discipline, attendance, or staffing data were present, leaving the school's environment and day-to-day operations uncharacterized by the typical indicators.

Two Harbors itself is a compact, walkable waterfront town with a downtown built around historic structures, parks, and the ore docks. It is the gateway to the North Shore's state parks, and its street life, while modest, is boosted by summer tourism. The school sits within this small community, but the data did not specify whether its campus is downtown or on a separated site. For a family considering the area, the town provides a range of outdoor recreation and a quiet, small-town civic life. The district's recent capital investment suggests that facilities may have seen upgrades, something a prospective parent can verify by visiting.

Overall, Two Harbors Secondary is a school where academic performance is inconsistent across grades and subjects, with a few stronger pockets in middle school language arts and several areas that are clearly weaker, particularly in math at the lower and upper ends of the middle grades and in eighth-grade science. A parent invested in strong STEM outcomes will want to look into how the school supports those subjects. The school's single-building format for grades six through twelve means students stay in a familiar setting through the transition to high school, which suits some families. The town's gradual population decline and stable economy do not point to rapid growth, so the school's enrollment and resource base are unlikely to shift dramatically in the near term.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

90-94%Cohort of 86 students · Class of 2021

The federal source publishes a banded range instead of an exact rate when the graduating cohort is small enough that an exact number could risk identifying individual students.

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

649 schools plotted. 88 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Math

Grade 611%

School 11% · District 15% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median

Grade 735%

School 35% · District 35% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median

Grade 823%

School 23% · District 23% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 642%

School 42% · District 43% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 4 pts below state median

Grade 751%

School 51% · District 44% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median

Grade 829%

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

▼ 6 pts below state median

Science

Grade 87%

School 7% · District 8% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 5 pts below state median

This schoolLAKE SUPERIOR PUBLIC SCHOOL DIST., 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-income36%Higher-income46%9 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income33%Higher-income61%28 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income38%Higher-income25%12 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income0%Higher-income17%17 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income21%Higher-income43%21 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income28%Higher-income20%8 pp gap