Schools in Silver Bay, Minnesota
Part of the Silver Bay neighborhood guide. Back to the full guide.
Silver Bay is served by Lake Superior School District (ISD 381), which enrolls 1,286 students across four schools split between Silver Bay and Two Harbors (NCES Common Core of Data, 2024-2025, accessed 2026-08-13).
Locally that means William Kelley Elementary at 137 Banks Boulevard, about 143 students across prekindergarten through grade 5, and Wm. M. Kelley Secondary School, about 179 students in grades 6 through 12. That secondary school is among the smallest in Minnesota: roughly 25 students per grade level across seven grades.
Be clear-eyed about what that means. Class sizes are tiny and every student is known by every teacher. A student who wants to play a sport will play it, and a student who wants a role in the production will get one. What a school this size cannot offer is a broad course catalog, a deep advanced-coursework program, or specialised staff across many subjects. Families with a specific academic requirement should compare actual course offerings, including any online or shared-instruction arrangements, rather than assuming.
Minnesota open enrollment exists, and the district's other secondary school in Two Harbors is larger at about 597 students, but it is 30 minutes southwest and that daily drive is a serious commitment.
Confirm the assignment for a specific address with the district. This guide builds its own transparent school ratings from Minnesota Department of Education report card data rather than republishing licensed third-party scores. There are no private school options in Lake County; the nearest is Marshall School in Duluth, about an hour away.
The Silver Bay elementary at 137 Banks Boulevard, about 143 students across six grade levels.
The Silver Bay secondary school, grades 6 through 12, with about 179 students, one of the smallest public secondary schools in Minnesota.
The district's Two Harbors elementary, about 30 minutes southwest.
The district's larger secondary school, in Two Harbors.
Higher education nearby: Lake Superior College, University of Minnesota Duluth, College of St. Scholastica, University of Wisconsin-Superior.
District guide: Lake Superior School District (ISD 381)
Schools next door
Thirty minutes southwest, the county seat, with the hospital, the larger school, and full services.
Knife RiverForty-five minutes southwest on the shore, a much smaller and much more expensive shoreline community in the same district.
North Shore (Duluth)The Duluth end of the same shoreline, about an hour southwest.
LakesideDuluth's east-side family neighborhood, about an hour southwest and the nearest full urban services.
Lester ParkThe east edge of Duluth, on the way down the shore.