Original Research by School Decision on Kalon Prep Academy
Kalon Prep Academy is a public charter high school serving grades nine through twelve in Alexandria, Minnesota. It opened in fall 2021, making it a relatively new option for families in Douglas County. The school is authorized by Innovative Quality Schools and operates as a tuition-free public school of choice.
The school’s enrollment is small relative to typical comprehensive high schools. Its student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Hispanic, Black, and multiracial students. Data on the share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, students with disabilities, and English learners were not available, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about the range of student supports and how special education services are delivered.
Kalon Prep Academy uses a strengths-based model. It administers the CliftonStrengths assessment and uses the StrengthsQuest curriculum, an approach that focuses on identifying and developing individual talents rather than remediating deficits. The school also partners with CFES Brilliant Pathways, a program focused on college and career readiness. The school reports a student-to-instructional-coach ratio that is low, and all students receive daily whole-group on-campus instruction.
State testing data for Kalon Prep Academy was not available in the source data, so academic proficiency in core subjects cannot be characterized from this evidence. Similarly, a four-year graduation rate was not reported. For a new school, it is common for such metrics to take several years to accumulate, but a family looking for academic performance data will need to request current results from the school or check the Minnesota Department of Education’s website directly.
Chronic absenteeism data was available and placed Kalon Prep Academy below the midpoint among Douglas County’s districts, meaning the school reports a relatively high share of students missing significant amounts of school. This is a soft spot that a parent may want to look into further with the school to understand what drives the figure and what supports are in place for attendance.
On per-pupil current spending, the school’s figure falls in the lower range among the county’s districts. Lower spending may reflect the school’s small size and charter model; it does not necessarily indicate less effective programming, but a parent may want to understand how resources are allocated.
As a charter school, Kalon Prep Academy offers families an alternative to the area’s traditional public high schools. Its strength-based curriculum and college-readiness partnerships may appeal to students who respond well to a personalized, talent-focused approach rather than a standard comprehensive high school model. The small enrollment and low student-to-coach ratio suggest a setting where students can receive more individual attention.
Because the school is new and data on testing, graduation rates, and student demographics such as poverty and special education status are limited or absent, families will need to gather additional information directly from the school to form a complete picture of its academic outcomes and student support systems.
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