Compiled from official source data by PlainSchools.
10 public K-12 schools in Golden Valley from NCES Common Core of Data: enrollment, grade span, demographics, and Civil Rights Data Collection statistics for every active campus.
According to NCES CCD 2024-25, Golden Valley has more public-school enrollment than 23% of the 4,487 US cities in this directory. Golden Valley has fewer enrolled students than most listed city systems, but its student-teacher ratio still falls on the more crowded side of the national distribution. That pairing rules out a simple “large city” explanation for the staffing load. Campus size, grade configuration, vacancies, and district boundaries become the more relevant questions; the profiles below expose those fields school by school without turning the ratio into a quality verdict.
A full K–12 ladder sits inside the city boundary
Golden Valley's list includes 4 elementary, 1 middle, and 2 high-school campuses, plus 3 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.
A small portfolio contains radically different campus scales
Golden Valley lists only 10 schools, yet reported enrollment runs from 22 to 792 students, a 36-fold range. In a portfolio this compact, the smallest record may be a specialized or nonstandard setting rather than a miniature version of the largest campus. That distinction affects how ratios and program fields should be read. Compare similarly configured grade levels first; combining the extremes into one city average conceals more than it explains.
City enrollment
Top 77%
School count
Top 41%
Resource Index average
64th percentile
Teacher staffing
22nd percentile
Meadowbrook Elementary accounts for 29.7% of all Golden Valley public-school enrollment
That dominant concentration means Golden Valley-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the largest entity. Grade level: Combined. 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.
Golden Valley school enrollment varies 36× across entities
Golden Valley school enrollment ranges from 22 students (lowest) to 792 students (highest), a spread of 770 students. That ratio is among the widest observed and reflects extreme heterogeneity inside a single city, with small specialty programs listed alongside large comprehensive campuses. 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.
Golden Valley operates 5 school districts — among the most fragmented governance structures in the country
Each school district has independent budgeting, hiring, and service delivery authority. The fragmentation reflects historical patterns of inter-municipal boundary lines that pre-date modern city growth, students in different parts of the same city can attend different districts with different per-pupil spending, calendars, and graduation requirements. Per-region variation is largest in fragmented systems because each school district sets its own budget, contracts, and priorities without higher-level coordination above the regulatory floor.
Golden Valley student-teacher ratio is 18.5:1 — high (typically associated with larger urban scale or staffing constraints that have widened the headcount gap)
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 Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.
2 of Golden Valley's 10 listed schools are charters
20% of the city's listed public-school campuses are reported as charter schools in NCES CCD. Charter status identifies a different governance arrangement; it does not establish admissions availability, academic quality, or the share of city students enrolled in those campuses. Open each school record to compare enrollment and staffing directly.
Most racially and ethnically mixed schools in Golden Valley
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.
What do families ask about schools in Golden Valley?
Which Golden Valley school has the highest Resource Investment Index? ▼
Robbinsdale Virtual Academy K-5 has the highest Resource Investment Index among the Golden Valley schools in this federal-data comparison at 60/100. The index summarizes reported staffing, counseling, gifted-program, and attendance inputs; it is not an academic rating.
How many schools are in Golden Valley, MN? ▼
Golden Valley has 10 public schools with a total enrollment of 2,663 students. 2 are charter schools. Average student-teacher ratio: 18.5:1.
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.
