Carlton Public Schools (ISD 93)
Carlton Public Schools, ISD 93, enrolled about 308 students in 2024-2025 across two buildings in Carlton: South Terrace Elementary for preschool through grade 5, and Carlton Secondary School for grades 6 through 12. It is the smallest district in this guide by a wide margin. That is the whole story for a buyer, and whether it reads as an advantage or a limitation is a genuine judgment call rather than something this guide will decide for you.
About Carlton Public Schools
ISD 93 serves the City of Carlton, which since 2015 includes the former city of Thomson, plus surrounding Carlton County ground at the Jay Cooke gateway. The district reported 24 teacher FTE against 308 students, a student-teacher ratio of about 12.8 to 1 (NCES Common Core of Data, accessed 2026-08-14). That is the lowest ratio in this guide, but read it carefully: in a district this small it mostly reflects the arithmetic of covering thirteen grade levels with a minimum viable staff, not a deliberate small-class model.
The context that matters is the county. Carlton County has four public districts within a few miles of each other, ranging from 308 students here to 2,529 in Cloquet. Very few places in Minnesota concentrate that much district variety into that little geography, and it means the single most consequential school decision a buyer here makes is which side of a district line the house sits on.
Schools in the district
South Terrace Elementary holds 163 students from preschool through grade 5. Carlton Secondary School holds 145 across grades 6 through 12, which works out to roughly twenty students per grade.
There is no separate middle school and no separate high school building. A sixth-grader and a senior are in the same building, which is normal at this scale and is the same structure Esko uses one town over, though Esko's secondary school is four times larger.
Enrollment & performance
At 308 students, ISD 93 is smaller than several individual elementary schools elsewhere in this guide. Superior High School alone enrolls four times the entire Carlton district.
What that means practically is worth stating plainly rather than dressing up. A very small secondary school can offer a student unusual access: it is difficult to be anonymous, easy to be on a team or in a production, and a family talking to the principal is talking to someone who knows the child. It also constrains what can be offered. Advanced and specialized coursework at this scale typically depends on shared arrangements, online options, or postsecondary enrollment rather than a deep in-house catalog. A family with a child heading toward a specialized path should ask the district directly how it handles that, and the district will have a real answer.
Minnesota publishes no single district grade, and this guide does not invent one. The Minnesota Report Card carries the state's own reporting by school and student group, and at this enrollment some measures are suppressed for privacy, which is itself worth knowing before you go looking for numbers that will not be there.
Source: NCES Common Core of Data, 2024-2025 release (LEA 2707590), accessed 2026-08-14 (2024-2025).
Attendance boundaries
There is no internal boundary in ISD 93. One elementary, one secondary school, every student attends both in turn.
The district edge is another matter and it is the thing to check. Cloquet ISD 94 sits to the north, Esko ISD 99 to the northeast, and Wrenshall ISD 100 to the southeast, all close. Because the districts differ so sharply in size, an address a mile in the wrong direction is a materially different schooling proposition, not a marginal one. Confirm the district for a specific parcel with ISD 93 before making an offer, and do not reason from the mailing address or the nearest town.
Neighborhoods this district serves
Carlton is the one community in this guide inside ISD 93, and its neighborhood page covers housing, prices, the Jay Cooke setting, and the 2015 Thomson consolidation in detail. Buyers who want the same river-corridor character with a larger district look ten minutes north to Cloquet in ISD 94; those who want a small district with a stronger housing premium and a shorter Duluth commute look at Esko in ISD 99.
Common questions about Carlton Public Schools
How small is the Carlton district?
About 308 students across all thirteen grades in 2024-2025, in two buildings. That makes it by far the smallest district in this guide; Esko, the next smallest, is more than four times its size, and Duluth is nearly thirty times. Carlton Secondary School holds 145 students across grades 6 through 12, so a graduating class is small.
What are the two schools?
South Terrace Elementary for preschool through grade 5, with 163 students, and Carlton Secondary School for grades 6 through 12, with 145. Both are in Carlton. There is no separate middle school and no separate high school building.
Does the district include Thomson?
Yes. The former city of Thomson consolidated into the City of Carlton in 2015, and this is the district for that ground. People still search for Thomson as a place name, and both the community and its schools now sit under the Carlton name.
What should I check before buying near Carlton?
Which district the parcel is actually in. Four public districts converge within a few miles here: Carlton ISD 93, Cloquet ISD 94, Esko ISD 99, and Wrenshall ISD 100. They differ enormously in size, from 308 students to 2,529, so the district a specific address falls into is a much bigger variable in this county than in most places. Confirm it with the district rather than inferring it from the mailing address.
Where these facts come from
- NCES Common Core of Data, district and school directory 2024-2025, Carlton Public School District (LEA 2707590) accessed 2026-08-14
- Carlton School District, district website accessed 2026-08-14
- Minnesota Report Card, Minnesota Department of Education accessed 2026-08-14