201 2nd St E
Bellingham, MN 56212

If you are looking for a mediocre school where expectations are low and every student is promoted regardless of their competency, then this school is for you. Students do whatever they want and face no consequences for improper behavior, in fact some students intentionally skip their assigned detention hours in order to serve "in school suspension" where they just sleep all day. Most of the staff are focused on educating the students, but there are a few whose priority is just collecting a paycheck -- and nothing is done. There is a high level of staff turnover as well, which does not help. Some of the changes are due to the staff electing to move to different districts for personal reasons, but over the past decade the district has made staffing changes for purely financial reasons by electing not to renew teacher contracts just prior to their tenure in order to hire less expensive replacements. Then once those replacements are ready for tenure, they are non-renewed and the cycle continues.The administration knows that there is an issue with poor student discipline and talks about how they are making changes to fix it, but their actions do not match what they say. At least one student was reprimanded this past school year over 30 times for behavior such as bullying and classroom disrespect, yet the conduct continued.During the past year the district asked for a $30 million bond in order to renovate the facilities. The vote only received about 30% support, and many local residents felt the plan was rushed and prioritized extra curriculars. Others stated that until the internal issues (discipline and student apathy) are fixed that they are unwilling to raise their property taxes to fund the external facelift. As a local resident, I agree 100%.The elementary school was recognized as a Blue Ribbon School this year, which is admirable, but not because of their high test scores and student success. The recognition was due to shrinking the achievement gap between the low achieving students and their average counterparts. Hopefully over the next few years the achievement level and corresponding standardized test scores will increase for ALL students.If you want your child to receive a quality education where they are academically challenged and held to a high standard of behavior, you can do better than Ortonville Public Schools. Seriously look into other nearby options, especially since there is open enrollment in Minnesota.