The top reported proficiency rate is 50% in English language arts. The lowest is 16% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Crosslake Community Charter School
Crosslake Community Charter School is a single-charter district in Crow Wing County that serves kindergarten through twelfth grade. It operates three distinct schools: a seat-based program and two online programs, one for grades six through twelve and one for kindergarten through fifth grade. This structure gives families a mix of in-person and remote learning options within one organization. The enrollment, spread across all grade levels, is moderate for a charter district of this grade span. The student body is predominantly white, with small shares of students who are two or more races, Hispanic, Black, Asian, or American Indian. Data on the share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch was not available, so a portrait of the economic composition of the student population is incomplete from the public record.
State test results in math, English language arts, and science vary substantially by grade level. In math, proficiency rates range from lower to moderate across tested grades, with some grades showing a notably small share of students meeting state benchmarks. English language arts results are more mixed: in a few elementary and middle school grades a solid share of students scored proficient, while other grades showed weaker performance. Science results, available for grades five and eight, show a small share of students proficient at grade five and a very small share at grade eight. It is worth noting that Minnesota changed the science assessment in the same year, so those results may not be directly comparable to prior years. Across all tested subjects and grades, Crosslake Community Charter School’s overall proficiency index sits below the midpoint among Crow Wing County’s five districts. A parent may want to discuss grade-level performance in more detail with the school, particularly in the grades where proficiency was lowest.
Chronic absenteeism, a metric the state tracks, is higher here than in any other district in the county for which data was reported. That rate places the school in the bottom quartile among its Crow Wing County peers. A family considering this charter would do well to ask about attendance supports and what the school’s approach is to reducing chronic absence.
Per-pupil current spending is in the lower range compared with the other county districts. That may reflect the leaner administrative model common among charter schools, but the data does not specify how spending is allocated across the seat-based and online programs. A four-year graduation rate was not available in the data, which means the public record does not yet show how many students finish on time; families may wish to ask the school directly for its graduation outcomes.
No recent parent-relevant changes to the district were found in the public record, so the administrative operations appear stable for now. As a charter district with both in-person and online schools, Crosslake Community Charter School offers a flexible learning environment that may suit families who want options within a single district. The academic numbers, however, point to areas of challenge, especially in middle and upper grades and in attendance. The combination of online and seat-based schooling means that student experience can differ significantly depending on which program a child enrolls in, and the overall district-level measures may mask variation between those programs. A thoughtful conversation with the school about program-specific achievement and support resources is warranted.
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