The top reported proficiency rate is 34% in English language arts. The lowest is 0% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Aim Academy of Science & Technology
Aim Academy of Science & Technology opened in the fall of 2021 as a public charter school in South Minneapolis, serving grades six through eleven as of the most recent data. It is a single-school charter district, which means the district office and the school are the same entity, and it has no attendance zone; any Minnesota student may apply. The school describes itself as offering an integrated STEM curriculum with culturally responsive mentorship, coding and digital literacy courses, and partnerships with technology-based businesses. For families in or near Minneapolis, that opening established a new secondary option focused on science and technology.
The student body is small for a district, with an enrollment that is heavily concentrated in middle and early high school grades. The racial composition is almost entirely Black, with a very small number of Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students represented; other racial or ethnic categories show no enrollment. Data on the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and on students with disabilities or English learners, was not available from the state.
On state assessments, Aim Academy’s results show a pattern that parents will want to examine closely. In mathematics, proficiency rates across grades six, seven, and eight were well below the midpoint among Hennepin County’s districts. In English language arts, the rates were modestly higher, particularly in seventh and eighth grade, but still fell short of the county median. In eighth-grade science, no students scored at the proficient level, though the state changed the science assessment and cut scores that year, making that result difficult to compare with prior years or other districts. Participation rates on all tests were high, so the results reflect nearly all enrolled students in those grades. The chronic absenteeism rate was very low, landing in the top quartile among county districts, meaning students are in class consistently. Per-pupil spending was in the middle range, on the upper half of the county’s districts.
The school is in its early years, having opened only a few years ago, and does not yet serve twelfth grade. Because of that, no four-year graduation rate is reported, and the grade span of six through eleven means the school has not yet graduated a cohort. The comparison data for overall proficiency places the district below the county midpoint, a position consistent with the individual grade-level results. A parent considering this school should weigh the program’s stated emphasis on STEM, digital literacy, and culturally responsive teaching against the academic attainment data that is currently available. The school is young, and these early test results may reflect a student population still settling into a new school model.
No locale brief was available for the city or neighborhood, so there is no housing market or community context to describe. The district’s strategic priorities or long-range plans were not part of the data provided. What is clear from the enrollment figures and the school’s own description is that this is a small, focused charter serving a predominantly Black student body with a mission built around science and technology, operating in South Minneapolis as an option for families who want that specific approach.
See more original research from School Decision →