WC Minnesota News

There were 565 students enrolled in Traverse County schools in the 2023-24 school year, 3.5% more than the previous year, according to reports from the Minnesota Department of Education.

In terms of gender distribution, the student body in Traverse County comprised 50.6% boys, with girls representing the remaining 49.4%.

Data also showed that white students made up 65% of the student body, the largest percentage in Traverse County schools, followed by American Indian students with 24.4%, 7.4% Hispanic students, 2.7% multiracial students, 0.2% Hawaiian Pacific Islander students, 0.2% Other Indigenous Peoples students and 0.2% Asian students.

Wheaton Secondary had the highest enrollment among Traverse County's four schools in the 2023-24 school year, welcoming 189 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
Wheaton Secondary	192	189	-1.6%
Pearson Elementary	174	179	2.9%
Browns Valley Elementary	118	129	9.3%
Browns Valley Middle	62	68	9.7%