The top reported proficiency rate is 63% in Math. The lowest is 30% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Lakeside El.
Lakeside Elementary serves grades two through five in Chisago City, part of the Chisago Lakes School District. The school sits in a small lakeside city roughly a half hour’s drive northeast of the Twin Cities, a place that markets itself as the “Gateway to the Lakes.” The area is car-dependent, with a downtown core and a mix of residential neighborhoods and highway-oriented commercial development. The city has grown steadily over recent decades, and the housing market reflects its position as an exurban commuter community. The median home value in the area is moderately above the national figure, and the local unemployment rate tracks close to the national average.
The school itself is a regular public elementary school with an enrollment in the upper hundreds for a grade-two-through-five building. The student body is overwhelmingly white, with small shares of students who are two or more races, Hispanic, Asian, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Black. Roughly one in five students qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a share that places the school in a lower-poverty context relative to many public schools nationally.
Lakeside’s state assessment results, from the most recent testing year, show a clear split by subject. In math, across grades three through five, the share of students meeting state standards sits above the midpoint among the county’s districts; the school’s overall proficiency index lands in the top quartile compared to other districts in Chisago County. Reading performance is more mixed. At grade three, just under half of students met the reading standard, while at grade five the rate was substantially higher. The combined reading picture across grades is more moderate than the math picture, and a parent may want to ask the school about how reading support is structured for the younger grades. Science results are available only for grade five, and the proficiency rate there is lower, though the state changed both the science assessment and its cut scores in the most recent year, making direct comparisons to prior years unwise.
Because Lakeside serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to report. Data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, and course access was not available, so the school’s standing on those dimensions is not captured here. The school does not publish data on special education or English learner enrollment, so those populations cannot be characterized from the available information.
The district’s most recent referendum, in late 2023, renewed the expiring operating levy at a level that will keep pace with inflation, securing the district’s general operating revenue. A companion measure that would have created a dedicated technology funding stream was rejected by voters, so the district will not have that specific revenue source.
For a family considering this school, the academic picture is one where math instruction is a relative strength within the county, while reading at the lower elementary grades and fifth-grade science are areas a parent would want to understand better by talking to the school directly. The student body is economically stable relative to many public schools and is not diverse by race or ethnicity. The community itself is a growth-oriented exurb with a strong recreational identity centered on its lakes, a commuter pattern to the Twin Cities, and a local government that is actively managing development. The school’s grade configuration, enrolling students from second grade through fifth, means that families with children in kindergarten and first grade would be looking at a different building in the district for the early primary years.
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