Cottonwood County public schools enrolled 27 Black students in the 2024-25 school year, 27% less than the previous year, according to the Minnesota Department of Education.
Data showed that Cottonwood County public schools enrolled 1,916 students during the 2024-25 school year. Among them, Black students comprised 1.4% of the student body to be the second least represented ethnicity in the county.
Among the seven public schools in the county, Windom Area Elementary School recorded the highest enrollment of Black students in the 2024-25 school year, with a total of 12.
According to the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), Minnesota fourth graders scored 241 in math, compared with the national average of 237. Their reading score was 214, the same as the U.S. average, though it has declined slightly in recent years. Eighth graders scored 282 in math and 260 in reading, both above the national averages.
However, scores for both grades remain below pre-pandemic levels in math and reading.
As of 2026, according to Public School Review, the student-to-teacher ratio in Minnesota’s public schools is 15:1, the same as the national average. Minnesota’s public education system is the 10th largest in the United States, serving more than 870,913 students across 2,722 schools.
| School Name | No. of Black Students | % of Black Students | Total School Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| SWWC Alternative Learning Center – Windom | 3 | 7.3% | 41 |
| Windom Area Elementary School | 12 | 2.4% | 493 |
| Windom Middle School | 8 | 2.2% | 359 |
| Mountain Lake Secondary School | 2 | 0.8% | 241 |
| Windom Senior High School | 2 | 0.6% | 327 |
| Westbrook-Walnut Grove Secondary School | 0 | 0% | 198 |
| Mountain Lake Elementary School | 0 | 0% | 257 |
