Students in classroom during the first day of school
Students and Teachers walking from the bus line to the classroom
Students filing their paperwork in the classroom cubbies
Teacher helping a student with their schedule.

Updates and Events

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Sunset Terrace SNS serving enchiladas to students

One of the most exciting things we hear around the district is kids being excited about what food they are being served for lunch. Dishes like Tikka Masala and Sambusas have been massive hits amongst our students, and many have enjoyed the fact that they’re foods that their families made for dinner as well. We have not stopped working hard to add more of these meals to our menus. In fact, SNS has just added a new entre, in collaboration with local restaurant El Carambas.

Read More about Collaboration for Cultural Dishes: Enchiladas for Summer of Discovery Schools
Summer Meal Program

RPS offers a summer meal program for children ages 18 years of age or younger at no cost. The summer meal program is offered at various sites throughout the summer at various times and dates. Additionally, there are mobile sites at Silver Lake Park and at Oak Terrace.

Read More about RPS Summer Meal Program

Fast Facts

Our mission is to inspire, challenge, and empower all students with the knowledge and skills required to reach their full potential, to contribute to future generations, and to become involved members of a global community.

As the 7th largest district in Minnesota we serve more than 17,400 students and continue to grow.

As one of the top three employers in Rochester, we currently employee over 3,000 staff members.

63.3% of our teachers hold a Master’s Degree or the equivalency.

We strive to provide our students with different opportunities for learning including early childhood education, quality neighborhood schools, district-wide programs and schools, alternative learning, and adult education.

In the 2017-2018 school year, we had a 4-year graduation rate of 87.01%, and our graduation rates continue to surpass the state average of 83.20%. Our three high schools combined had a 92% graduation rate.

Our district celebrates diversity with more than 80 spoken languages in our schools.

We offer four full-service community schools at Gage Elementary School, Riverside Central Elementary School, John Marshall High School, and Rochester Alternative Learning School.

Hawthorne Education Center offers Adult Basic Education, English as a second language, and college programs for our community members.