The top reported proficiency rate is 6% in English language arts. The lowest is 0% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Academia Cesar Chavez Chtr School
Academia Cesar Chavez Chtr School serves students from prekindergarten through eighth grade on Saint Paul’s East Side, operating as a charter school within a newly unified district called Academias La Paz. The school is almost entirely Hispanic, with nearly all students identifying as such, and a very large share of families qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. This is a school shaped by its community and its mission, and the data tells a clear story about academic performance that families will want to weigh carefully.
The school sits in Saint Paul, Minnesota’s capital and second-largest city, part of the eastern half of the Twin Cities metro area. Saint Paul is a mix of state government offices, dense residential neighborhoods, cultural institutions like the Science Museum of Minnesota and the Ordway Center, and professional sports venues. Its park system has ranked very high nationally, and the city is notably diverse, with significant Hmong, Black, and Hispanic populations. The school is located on the East Side, a working-class area of the city with its own identity. The local housing market, based on current data, shows home values and rents that are below the statewide benchmark but above the national one, reflecting the broader Twin Cities cost of living. Saint Paul’s population has been relatively stable in recent years, with modest change.
The school’s organizational structure recently changed in a notable way. As of July 2024, Academia Cesar Chavez and El Colegio High School, two independent charter schools, merged into a single unified charter district called Academias La Paz. This restructuring creates a continuous prekindergarten through twelfth-grade pathway across two campuses: the PreK–8 campus in Saint Paul and the high school campus in South Minneapolis. For families considering this school, the merger is a lasting structural change to understand, as it means the school is no longer a standalone K–8 but part of a larger district that includes a high school option. The school is now formally named Academia Cesar Chavez Elementary School under its new parent district.
On state assessments, proficiency rates in both math and reading are very low across the tested grades, third through fifth. In every tested grade and subject, the share of students meeting state standards was in the single digits, with one grade showing no students proficient in math and another showing no students proficient in science. When compared to other districts in Ramsey County, the school’s overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile, meaning the vast majority of other districts in the county see higher levels of student attainment on these measures. These figures represent a single year of data, so there is no multi-year trend to examine for improvement or decline.
Because the school does not serve high school grades, there is no graduation rate to report. Information on special education and English learner populations was not available in the data reviewed, which limits a full picture of student support needs. The school operated under Title I status, though the data was not clear on this point. No information on discipline, staffing ratios, or chronic absenteeism was present in the data provided, so those aspects of the school environment cannot be characterized here. A parent may want to ask the school directly about its special education services, English learner programming, and how it addresses the academic support needs reflected in the assessment results.
This is a school that fits a family seeking a small, community-focused charter setting with a strong cultural identity in a diverse Saint Paul neighborhood, and that is comfortable with a school where academic proficiency levels on state tests are very low. The recent merger adds a clear high school pathway under the same district umbrella, which may appeal to families looking for continuity. Families whose priority is high test scores or a wide range of advanced coursework would likely find a better match elsewhere in the county.
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