The top reported proficiency rate is 20% in English language arts. The lowest is 11% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Legacy of Dr Josie R Johnson Montes
Legacy of Dr Josie R Johnson Montes is a Minnesota public school district that served kindergarten through sixth grade from a single school, Legacy of Dr. Josie R. Johnson Montessori. As of the 2024-2025 school year, that school is closed. The district's board voted to shutter it during the 2023-2024 school year because of severe financial difficulties, including a negative fund balance and enrollment well below projections. The Minnesota Department of Education placed the school in statutory operating debt status. The district now operates no schools, and families who were part of this community must enroll their children elsewhere.
The student body during its last year of operation was small. The student population was predominantly Black, with smaller shares identifying as two or more races, white, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Hispanic. Data on the share of students who qualified for free or reduced-price lunch, received special education services, or were English learners was not available. Class sizes by grade were modest.
State testing data from the 2022-2023 school year, the most recent available before the closure, shows that proficiency rates in math and reading were low across the elementary grades. In math, the share of students scoring at or above proficient was in the single digits or low in third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grades. In reading, proficiency rates were similarly low for third, fourth, and fifth graders. Sixth graders posted a notably higher reading proficiency rate, approaching half of tested students. Science testing, conducted only in fifth grade, showed a low proficiency rate. When placed among Hennepin County's districts, the district's overall proficiency across all tested subjects and grades fell in the bottom quartile. Its chronic absenteeism rate, however, placed in the top quartile among county districts, meaning fewer students were chronically absent relative to other districts in the county. Per-pupil current spending was in the middle range, upper half of the county.
The district did not serve high school grades, so no graduation rate applies, and no data on course access, staffing, discipline, or postsecondary pathways was available. The district was a single-school Montessori charter serving only grades kindergarten through six, which explains the absence of high-school-level metrics. The closure means that any analysis of the school's trajectory is retrospective. A parent interested in this community should look into where the students and staff have moved and what neighboring districts or schools now serve this population.
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