The top reported proficiency rate is 57% in Math. The lowest is 17% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Upsala Elementary
Upsala Elementary serves as the elementary wing of a single K-12 school building in the small rural town of Upsala in southwestern Morrison County. It enrolls students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. The school sits at the center of a community described as having a Swedish-immigrant heritage, with an economy rooted in agriculture, light manufacturing, and service businesses. Many families commute to larger employment centers along the I-94 and Highway 10 corridors toward St. Cloud and the Twin Cities metro area. The district is the largest employer in town, and the school building itself functions as a primary community institution, housing administrative offices, a gymnasium, and an auditorium after a reconstruction and expansion in the mid-2000s.
The student body is overwhelmingly white, with a very small number of Hispanic students and an even smaller number of students of two or more races. More than a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a substantial share of families with lower household income. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the source data.
On state assessments for the most recent testing year, math proficiency varied notably by grade. Third graders reached proficiency at a level well above the midpoint among tested grades, while fourth graders did slightly less well. Fifth and sixth graders showed proficiency rates that fell below what the earlier grades reached, with about two in five students meeting the standard. In English language arts, a similar pattern held across the later grades: fourth, fifth, and sixth graders each recorded a proficiency rate at a moderate level, while third graders were lower, with about a third proficient. In science, the only tested grade, fifth graders had a lower proficiency rate. Taken together across tested subjects and grades, the school’s overall proficiency index placed it in the top quartile among districts in Morrison County, meaning it performed stronger than most of its neighbors despite variation within its own grade levels.
Because this is an elementary school that does not serve high school grades, there is no graduation rate to report. The school has no charter or magnet affiliation, and its Title I status was not specified in the data. The district brief searched for recent parent-relevant changes but found little of lasting impact.
Housing values in the zip code covering Upsala were below both the state and national benchmarks, reflecting the area’s rural character and more affordable market. The 30-year mortgage rate at the time of this profile was at a level common in recent years, and the national unemployment rate was moderate.
For a parent considering Upsala Elementary, the picture is one of a small, community-anchored school serving a largely white and lower-to-moderate-income student body in a rural town. Academic performance on state tests shows a mixed pattern, with math strength in the early tested grades and more middling results in reading across the board. The school’s overall standing among county districts is favorable, but the grade-level variation invites a closer look at how individual children progress as they move up the grades. The school offers no unusual program offerings that showed up in the data, and no recent district upheavals or policy changes were reported. Families who value a small-town school where the building is the heart of the community and where many parents commute to larger employment centers may find this a straightforward fit. Those concerned about reading proficiency in the early years or about the dip in math scores in the upper elementary grades may want to discuss supports and interventions directly with the school.
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