North Lakes Academy Elementary, Forest Lake MN

Original Research by School Decision on North Lakes Academy Elementary

North Lakes Academy Elementary is a public charter school in Forest Lake, Minnesota, serving kindergarten through fifth grade. It operates as its own independent district, separate from the larger Forest Lake Area school system that also serves the community. The school’s enrollment is relatively small for its grade band.

The student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Asian, Hispanic, and two-or-more-races students. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a level of economic diversity within the school community. Data on the share of students with disabilities and English learners was not available, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about how those populations are supported.

Forest Lake itself is a growing suburban community in the northwestern corner of Washington County, part of the Twin Cities metro area. The city describes itself as having a small-town feel with family-friendly amenities and outdoor recreation around its namesake lake. The area is car-oriented, with residential neighborhoods, commercial corridors, and lakefront areas spread across a wide geography. Housing values in the zip code have risen in recent years and sit above the national median, and rents have also increased, reflecting the area’s desirability and growth. The city recently annexed surrounding township land and has seen population growth, adding to the sense of a community in development. The district brief turned up no evidence of major recent changes such as a new curriculum, referendum, or facility overhaul that would be of lasting impact to a parent choosing a school.

On state assessments, the school’s results show a pattern of mixed performance that varies notably by grade and subject. In the most recent testing year, math proficiency rates among students were highest in third grade, with a substantial majority meeting the standard, and in sixth grade, where roughly half did. Fourth and fifth grade math proficiency rates were lower. In English language arts, sixth graders again had the strongest showing, with a majority meeting the standard, while third and fifth grade results were around two in five, and fourth grade was lower. Science results for fifth grade were very low, with only a small share meeting the proficiency standard. Looking across all tested subjects and grades, the school’s overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile relative to the twelve districts in Washington County. Because these results come from a single year, a multi-year trend is not available to show whether performance is heading in a particular direction.

The school serves only elementary grades, so there is no graduation rate to report, and no data on chronic absenteeism was available in the record. A parent considering this school may want to follow up on the range of student outcomes by grade and understand what academic supports are in place, particularly in mathematics and science.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 367%

School 67% · District 67%

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 443%

School 43% · District 43%

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 524%

School 24% · District 24%

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 645%

School 45% · District 45%

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 344%

School 44% · District 44%

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 426%

School 26% · District 26%

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 541%

School 41% · District 41%

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 656%

School 56% · District 56%

▲ 10 pts above state median · even with county median

Science

Grade 511%

School 11% · District 11%

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

This schoolNORTH LAKES ACADEMY, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income30%Higher-income53%23 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income18%Higher-income33%16 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income30%Higher-income52%22 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income43%Higher-income67%24 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income70%Higher-income65%5 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income41%Higher-income44%3 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income8%Higher-income43%35 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income39%Higher-income50%12 pp gap