NCES CCD 2024-25 14 schools MN

Best-Resourced Schools in Buffalo, MN

Compiled from official source data by .

14 public K-12 schools in Buffalo from NCES Common Core of Data: enrollment, grade span, demographics, and Civil Rights Data Collection statistics for every active campus.

PlainSchools home → About this data
14
Schools
4,608
Students
39.4/100
Avg Resource Index
15.6:1
Avg Student-Teacher Ratio

National city placement

One campus shapes the city average

According to NCES CCD 2024-25, Buffalo has more public-school enrollment than 51% of the 4,487 US cities in this directory. Buffalo Senior High enrolls 36.5% of Buffalo's public-school students. That is enough concentration for one institution to pull the citywide enrollment, staffing, and Resource Index averages toward its own profile. The smaller campuses below should therefore be compared directly rather than inferred from the headline mean; their grade configurations and program footprints can be materially different even inside the same district.

A full K–12 ladder sits inside the city boundary

Buffalo's list includes 4 elementary, 2 middle, and 4 high-school campuses, plus 4 combined-grade records. The city average spans every major grade stage, so the ranked table is more informative when read within level than as one interchangeable queue.

Campus spread matters more than the city mean

The 45-point gap between Wright Technical Center Alc Middle and Swmetro Lakeside Academy shows the range hidden by Buffalo's average Resource Investment Index. The city figure is useful for national placement, but families ultimately choose among campuses with different grade spans, enrollment, district affiliations, and reported support fields. Start with schools serving the relevant grade level, then compare the index components rather than assuming the city average describes any one classroom.

City enrollment
Top 49%
School count
Top 25%
Resource Index average
43rd percentile
Teacher staffing
47th percentile

Buffalo Senior High accounts for 36.5% of all Buffalo public-school enrollment

That dominant concentration means Buffalo-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the largest entity. Grade level: High. The share measures enrollment concentration only; it does not establish how districts allocate programs, capital, or staff. Enrollment-weighted aggregates give this entity more weight than any smaller peer, while an unweighted entity average treats every record equally.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Buffalo school enrollment varies 560× across entities

Buffalo school enrollment ranges from 3 students (lowest) to 1,681 students (highest), a spread of 1,678 students. That ratio is an extreme outlier spread — among the widest gaps observed anywhere in this dataset. Per-school staffing and program breadth can differ sharply at opposite ends of that enrollment range, so the city average should not be treated as a typical campus.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Buffalo student-teacher ratio is 15.6:1 — near the typical range (US average ~15.7) — citywide staffing is neither unusually lean nor unusually crowded by this measure

student-teacher ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE classroom teachers against total enrollment, push-in specialists, English-language aides, special-education co-teachers, and counselors are not included in most reporting Variation between sub-units within Buffalo is typically wider than the Buffalo-aggregate figure suggests.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, Public School Universe

# School Score
1. Wright Technical Center Alc Middle 64
2. Eastern Wright Program 57
3. Parkside Elementary 50
4. Cornerstones Program 50
5. Wright Technical Center Alc 48
6. Northwinds Elementary 39
7. Discovery Elementary 39
8. Tatanka Elementary Stem School 37
9. Buffalo Community Middle 34
10. Buffalo Early Child. Sp. Ed Program 33
11. Phoenix Learning Center 29
12. Swmetro Buffalo-Transitions 27
13. Buffalo Senior High 26
14. Swmetro Lakeside Academy 19

Most racially and ethnically mixed schools in Buffalo

Ranked by the Simpson student-body diversity index (0-100) from NCES race and ethnicity data, where higher means a more evenly mixed student body. It measures mix, not quality.

  1. 1 Swmetro Lakeside Academy 43.5/100
  2. 2 Wright Technical Center Alc 42.4/100
  3. 3 Eastern Wright Program 40.6/100
  4. 4 Tatanka Elementary Stem School 39.8/100
  5. 5 Cornerstones Program 36.2/100

What do families ask about schools in Buffalo?

Which Buffalo school has the highest Resource Investment Index? ▼

Wright Technical Center Alc Middle has the highest Resource Investment Index among the Buffalo schools in this federal-data comparison at 64/100. The index summarizes reported staffing, counseling, gifted-program, and attendance inputs; it is not an academic rating.

How many schools are in Buffalo, MN? ▼

Buffalo has 14 public schools with a total enrollment of 4,608 students. Average student-teacher ratio: 15.6:1.

Other Cities in Minnesota

Saint Paul
150 schools
Minneapolis
141 schools
Rochester
48 schools
Duluth
31 schools
Brooklyn Park
30 schools
Plymouth
27 schools

Side-by-side: Compare any two schools or districts in Minnesota →

Data from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 and Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22. The Resource Investment Index uses reported student-teacher ratio, counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance; it is not an academic rating. Cities must include at least five schools to be listed. This public-data comparison is for informational purposes: verify current enrollment, attendance boundaries, and programs with the school district before acting. See the guide to understanding NCES data.