WC Minnesota News

There were 825 students enrolled in Big Stone County schools in the 2023-24 school year, 4.3% more than the previous year, according to reports from the Minnesota Department of Education.

In terms of gender distribution, the student body in Big Stone County comprised 52.6% boys, with girls representing the remaining 47.4%.

Data also showed that white students made up 89% of the student body, the largest percentage in Big Stone County schools, followed by Hispanic students with 6.2%, 2.5% multiracial students, 1.5% American Indian students, 0.4% Asian students, 0.2% Black students, 0.1% Hawaiian Pacific Islander students and 0.1% Other Indigenous Peoples students.

Knoll Elementary had the highest enrollment among Big Stone County's eight schools in the 2023-24 school year, welcoming 267 students.

Minnesota's educational system, the 10th largest in the United States, serves over 869,000 students across 2,709 institutions. As of 2024, the student-to-teacher ratio in the state’s public schools is 1:16, slightly worse than the national average of 1:15.

Meanwhile, data from the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reveals that Minnesota fourth and eighth graders performed mostly above the national average in math, their scores suggest a slight decline from previous years, particularly in reading.

School name	Total enrollment in 2022-23	Total enrollment in 2023-24	% change
Knoll Elementary	246	267	8.5%
Ortonville Secondary	233	230	-1.3%
Pre-K - 5th Grade Building	131	149	13.7%
6-12th Grade Building	127	130	2.4%
Lismore Colony Elementary	25	22	-12%
Big Stone Colony Elementary	16	17	6.3%
Lismore Colony Senior High School	6	6	0%
Big Stone Colony High School	7	4	-42.9%