The top reported proficiency rate is 75% in Math. The lowest is 58% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Zumbrota-mazeppa Elementary School
Zumbrota-Mazeppa Elementary serves third through sixth graders in the Zumbrota-Mazeppa School District, housed in the small Wabasha County town of Mazeppa. It is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and it draws from a community that describes itself as a quiet bedroom and farming settlement in a river valley, where most working adults commute to Rochester or the Twin Cities. The school is the sole elementary building for the district at these grade levels; younger children attend a separate primary school, and older students move on to the district’s middle and high school in nearby Zumbrota.
On the state assessments given in spring of 2025, the school posted strong results in mathematics. Across grades three through six, a large majority of students met or exceeded the state standards in math. Performance was especially high in fifth grade, where most students scored proficient, and the other grades also showed a clear majority reaching that bar. In English language arts, the picture was more mixed. Fifth graders again performed very well, with a strong majority meeting standards, and sixth graders also showed solid proficiency. But in third grade, only about half of students reached the proficient level, a soft spot that a parent may want to ask the school about directly. Fourth-grade reading results fell between those two, with a modest majority proficient. Science is tested once in elementary school, in fifth grade, and a little more than half of those students scored proficient. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school’s overall proficiency index placed it in the top quartile when compared with other districts in Wabasha County, a small cohort of three districts. The data covers only one school year, so no trend line is available. Because this is an elementary school, no graduation rate or chronic absenteeism data is reported here.
The student body is small in absolute terms for a school serving four grade levels. Racially, it is predominantly white, which reflects the surrounding community. About three in ten students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a share that is moderate. Information on students with disabilities and English learners was not provided in the available data, so those figures are not part of this account.
Mazeppa itself is a compact village of modest size, with limited commercial activity and a handful of civic anchors: a historic walking bridge over the Zumbro River, a park that hosts the annual Mazeppa Daze festival, and an athletic field used for community events. The town has seen slow population change over recent years, and its housing market has been comparatively expensive for the region. Typical home values in the zip code that serves Mazeppa are above both the state and national benchmarks, and a home here costs a meaningful multiple of what a typical household earns nationally, a factor anyone considering a move should weigh. The district, publicly reported information suggests, undertook significant capital construction spending in the early years of this decade, though no specific referendum, curriculum overhaul, or other lasting parent-relevant change was confirmed in available sources.
For a family looking at this school, the strengths are clear: math achievement is consistently high across all grades served, and reading achievement in the upper elementary grades—especially fifth—is strong. The early-grade reading result is an area worth investigating. The setting is a quiet, rural bedroom community with a compact footprint, and the school is integrated into the town’s life rather than set apart on a distant campus. The housing market has become relatively pricey for the area, which prospective residents should factor into their planning.
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