The Complete Guide to Orono Schools (ISD #278)
I live on Lake Minnetonka, and one of the questions I hear most from buyers relocating to the west metro is some version of "wait, is Orono its own school system, or part of Wayzata?" It's a fair question — the two districts sit right next to each other, share a lake, and get confused constantly. They are not the same district, and the difference matters enough that I want to walk you through it properly before you write an offer. Most buyers don't know about Orono unless they have lived in MN or in the area, it just doesn't come up on searches often but it's smaller and very desired by families.
Orono Public Schools, Independent School District #278, is its own separate district headquartered in Long Lake. It's smaller and quieter than its neighbor Wayzata, it runs every grade on a single campus, and it consistently posts the highest graduation rate of any school district in Minnesota. If a listing you're eyeing sits along the lake's north and west shores — Orono, Long Lake, Minnetonka Beach, Medina, Maple Plain, or Independence — there's a good chance ISD #278 is the district you'll actually be zoned into, not Wayzata.
Here's everything you need to know before you tour a single home.
Orono ISD #278 at a Glance
Orono Public Schools was organized in 1949 and today serves roughly 2,900 to 3,000 students across a 120-acre campus on Old Crystal Bay Road in Long Lake, set along the shoreline of Lake Classen. It's genuinely unusual in the Twin Cities for how compact it is: instead of a dozen scattered elementary buildings feeding into a couple of middle schools and one high school, Orono runs its entire K-12 program from one connected campus, plus a separate early learning center in Maple Plain. Families describe a real sense of continuity — a Schumann kindergartner and an Orono senior can be dropped off within a few hundred feet of each other every morning.
The district's mascot is the Spartan, and the school colors are navy blue, red, and white. LOVE the color scheme!
**Communities the district serves:** Orono, Long Lake, Minnetonka Beach, Medina, Maple Plain, and Independence, with pockets of overlap along the district's edges. Because attendance follows the exact address rather than the town name, I always run a parcel through the district's boundary lookup before a buyer gets attached to a specific home — a house in "Orono" is not automatically zoned into Orono Schools, and a house in "Wayzata" occasionally is zoned the other way. This is a five-minute check that saves a lot of heartache after closing.
2026 Niche Rankings: Where Orono Stands
[Niche's 2026 rankings](https://www.niche.com/k12/d/orono-public-school-district-mn/rankings/) put Orono Public Schools among the top three districts in Minnesota by statewide standing, alongside Wayzata and Eden Prairie, with only about 2,200 students making it the smallest A+ district in that group. Multiple years of Niche and Patch data have consistently placed Orono in the state's top five districts overall, and the district holds a distinction that matters a great deal to families weighing the academic tradeoffs of a smaller system: Orono Public School District has the highest graduation rate of any school district in Minnesota, at 98%.
At the building level, [Orono Senior High School is ranked #14](https://www.niche.com/k12/orono-senior-high-school-long-lake-mn/rankings/) among Best Public High Schools in Minnesota for 2026, with an overall Niche grade of A, 961 students, and a 19-to-1 student-teacher ratio. On the national stage, the school also ranks ninth within Minnesota and #665 in the U.S. News national rankings, with an AP participation rate of 76%.
None of this means Orono is a fit for every family, and I'd rather tell you that plainly than let a ranking do the talking. Parent and student reviews describe a tight-knit, achievement-oriented community, but also one where social circles form early and stay fairly fixed, and where the pressure to perform academically and athletically can run high. If you're moving from a much larger or more anonymous school system, it's worth visiting during a school day, not just an open house, to see whether that culture is the right match for your kids.
The Orono Campus, Building by Building, it's so easy they are all on 1 road!
Four of the district's five buildings sit on the same Long Lake campus. Here's the full breakdown, with the office you'd actually call if you're checking on open enrollment, boundary questions, or a school tour.
Discovery Center (Early Learning & Preschool)
- Address: 5050 Independence Street, Maple Plain, MN 55359
- Phone: (952) 746-5895
- Home to the district's Early Learning and Preschool programs, plus a wide slate of Orono Community Education classes for all ages.
Schumann Elementary School (PK, K–2)
- Address: 765 N. Old Crystal Bay Rd, Long Lake, MN 55356
- Phone: (952) 449-8480
- Niche Grade: A-
- 611 students in grades PK, K-2 with a 15-to-1 student-teacher ratio
- Serves as the entry point for nearly every family in the district — this is where you'll do kindergarten roundup.
Orono Intermediate School (Grades 3–5)
- Address: 685 N. Old Crystal Bay Rd, Long Lake, MN 55356
- Phone: (952) 449-8470
- Serves roughly 637 students in grades 3 through 5.
Orono Middle School (Grades 6–8)
- Address: 685 N. Old Crystal Bay Rd, Long Lake, MN 55356
- Phone: (952) 449-8450
Orono Senior High School (Grades 9–12)
- Address: 795 Old Crystal Bay Rd N, Long Lake, MN 55356
- Phone: (952) 449-8400
- Niche Grade: A | #14 Best Public High School in Minnesota (2026)
- 98% graduation rate; 76% AP participation rate; 12% of students economically disadvantaged
District Administration
- Phone: (952) 449-8371
- Handles open enrollment applications, boundary verification, and general district questions.
What Orono-Zoned Homes Look Like on the Market
This is a district families pay a real premium to access, and the numbers back that up. Orono is a Lake Minnetonka community in the west metro where the median home price runs around $1.62 million, and it's a market that's moved fast this year — homes listed in Orono in May 2026 carried a median price near $1.5 million and a median 39 days on market, a 22% drop in time-on-market from the year before. Many homes are higher in value due to the lot sizes are usually much larger.
Orono is the largest municipality by area on Lake Minnetonka, with roughly a third of its total acreage being water — which is a big part of why lot sizes, privacy, and lakeshore frontage in this district tend to run larger than what you'll find closer to downtown Wayzata. Long Lake, Medina, Maple Plain, and Independence offer a wider range of price points within the same district boundary, which is often where I steer buyers who want ISD #278 schools without the north-shore estate price tag.
Local Flavor Around the District
Downtown Long Lake sits a few minutes from the Orono campus and has quietly become one of the west metro's better small-town main streets. The Red Rooster in downtown Long Lake serves classic American comfort food in a cozy, family-friendly setting, and Birch's on the Lake Brewhouse & Supperclub and The Narrows Saloon round out the local dining scene. For shopping, the Orono Shopping Center and a handful of independent boutiques — give the area a genuine downtown feel rather than a strip-mall one. Don't miss the the lake views on Birch's and watch the rowers.
Frequently Asked Questions
**Is Orono School District the same as Wayzata Public Schools?**
No. Orono Public Schools (ISD #278) and Wayzata Public Schools (ISD #284) are separate, adjacent districts that both touch Lake Minnetonka. They're often confused because the town of Orono has homes zoned into both districts depending on the exact address, so it's essential to verify boundaries before assuming which schools a specific property feeds into.
**What communities are zoned into Orono Schools?**
Orono Public Schools serves Orono, Long Lake, Minnetonka Beach, Medina, Maple Plain, and Independence, though boundary lines run block by block in some areas rather than following town borders exactly.
**How does Orono High School rank in Minnesota?**
Orono Senior High School ranks #14 among Best Public High Schools in Minnesota for 2026 according to Niche, with an overall grade of A and a 98% graduation rate — the highest graduation rate of any school district in the state.
**Is Orono a single campus?**
Yes. Schumann Elementary, Orono Intermediate School, Orono Middle School, and Orono Senior High School all sit on the same 120-acre campus in Long Lake. The district's Early Learning Discovery Center is on a separate site in Maple Plain.
**What's the median home price in the Orono school district?**
Homes in Orono itself carry a median list price near $1.5 to $1.62 million as of 2026, though prices vary significantly across the district's other communities — Long Lake, Medina, Maple Plain, and Independence all offer more accessible entry points into the same school boundary. Many new neighborhoods can reach $3M to build.
Vicki Peters is a licensed Realtor with CB Realty and a longtime resident of Lake Minnetonka, based in Wayzata. She specializes in luxury real estate across the West Metro — from bay-specific lakeshore listings to the school districts that surround them — and works with a mix of local move-up buyers, relocating professionals, and out-of-state families discovering the lake for the first time. Vicki lives, boats, and raises her own kids in the same neighborhoods she helps clients buy into, which is why her advice tends to sound less like a listing sheet and more like a conversation with a neighbor. 763-443-9084, [email protected]
