NCES CCD 2024-25 8 schools MN

Best-Resourced Schools in Wadena, MN

Compiled from official source data by .

8 public K-12 schools in Wadena 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
8
Schools
1,279
Students
43.8/100
Avg Resource Index
12.5:1
Avg Student-Teacher Ratio

National city placement

One campus shapes the city average

According to NCES CCD 2024-25, Wadena has more public-school enrollment than 4% of the 4,487 US cities in this directory. Wadena-Deer Creek Senior High enrolls 36.7% of Wadena'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.

Combined-grade campuses shape the local portfolio

7 of Wadena's 8 listed schools use NCES's combined or “other” grade-level classification. Citywide averages therefore blend campuses serving unusually broad or nonstandard grade spans with conventional elementary, middle, and high schools. Grade configuration is a first-order comparison here, not a minor label.

A small portfolio contains radically different campus scales

Wadena lists only 8 schools, yet reported enrollment runs from 9 to 470 students, a 52-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 96%
School count
Top 54%
Resource Index average
64th percentile
Teacher staffing
84th percentile

Wadena-Deer Creek Senior High accounts for 36.7% of all Wadena public-school enrollment

That dominant concentration means Wadena-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.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Wadena school enrollment varies 52× across entities

Wadena school enrollment ranges from 9 students (lowest) to 470 students (highest), a spread of 461 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.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Wadena student-teacher ratio is 12.5:1 — low (typically associated with smaller schools or per-school staffing investment that often correlates with stronger per-student supports)

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 Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, Public School Universe

# School Score
1. White Pine Academy 69
2. Leaf River Academy 52
3. Early Childhood Special Education 49
4. Freshwater Education District Alc 47
5. Wadena-Deer Creek 5th and 6th Grade 39
6. Wadena-Deer Creek Elementary 33
7. Elm Tree Academy 31
8. Wadena-Deer Creek Senior High 30

Most racially and ethnically mixed schools in Wadena

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 Early Childhood Special Education 42.8/100
  2. 2 Freshwater Education District Alc 42.0/100
  3. 3 Wadena-Deer Creek 5th and 6th Grade 26.2/100
  4. 4 Wadena-Deer Creek Elementary 25.5/100
  5. 5 Wadena-Deer Creek Senior High 24.1/100

What do families ask about schools in Wadena?

Which Wadena school has the highest Resource Investment Index? ▼

White Pine Academy has the highest Resource Investment Index among the Wadena schools in this federal-data comparison at 69/100. The index summarizes reported staffing, counseling, gifted-program, and attendance inputs; it is not an academic rating.

How many schools are in Wadena, MN? ▼

Wadena has 8 public schools with a total enrollment of 1,279 students. Average student-teacher ratio: 12.5:1.

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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.