Original Research by School Decision on Face to Face Academy
Face to Face Academy is a small public charter high school serving grades nine through twelve in Saint Paul. It is its own district, a single-school entity that operates independently of the larger Saint Paul Public Schools system. The school describes itself as a regular school, and its setting is the city itself: Saint Paul, the state capital and the eastern half of the Twin Cities metro area, a dense, diverse city of government buildings, residential neighborhoods, and cultural institutions along the Mississippi River.
This is a very small school. Its student body is composed primarily of students in their senior year, with far fewer in the earlier high school grades. The school enrolls a student population that is majority Black, with a substantial White minority and smaller shares of Hispanic, Asian, and Native American students. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, a marker of a low-income community. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not reported.
Academically, the school provides a single year of state testing results. In English language arts, a majority of students met proficiency standards. In math, just over a third of students reached the same bar. The school has not reported a four-year graduation rate, so it is not possible to assess how many students complete high school here or how they compare to other schools in Ramsey County on that measure. This gap may reflect the school’s nature as a small program serving a population that may have nontraditional timelines to graduation; a parent or guardian may want to ask the school directly what its completion outcomes look like.
The school’s location is on Arcade Street in Saint Paul’s East Side. The city is a major employment center, anchored by state government and county government, with a park system that consistently ranks among the best in the nation. Housing in the school’s ZIP code is priced below both the state and national averages, and rents have been rising modestly. The city’s population has been roughly stable in recent years.
Because Face to Face Academy is a charter school, it is not bound by a traditional school district’s attendance boundaries; any student who lives in Minnesota can apply to attend. The school’s size is its defining feature. It offers a high school experience in a setting where the total enrollment is comparable to a single grade in many conventional high schools. For a student who might feel lost in a larger building, an environment this small can be a meaningful alternative. For a student seeking a wide range of course offerings, extracurriculars, or a large peer group, the school may not provide that kind of scope.
A parent or resident considering this school should start by contacting it directly to understand the academic program, support services, and post-graduation outcomes for its students. The available data shows a school that serves a low-income, mostly older high school population, with early evidence of variable proficiency across subjects, and with a key metric—graduation rate—not yet on the record.
See more original research from School Decision →