The top reported proficiency rate is 0% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Central Lakes Adventure School
Central Lakes Adventure School served grades seven through twelve in Pillager, a small rural community in Cass County on the north bank of the Crow Wing River. The school was a charter public school, which means it operated with its own governing board and mission distinct from the local traditional district. The student body was small, with enrollment in the low dozens spread across the middle and high school grades. The school was predominantly white, and a substantial share of students qualified for free or reduced-price lunch. The school rebranded from Pillager Area Charter School to Central Lakes Adventure School.
State test results for the 2024-2025 school year show that in both math and reading, no students at the school met the state’s proficiency standard at grades seven and eight, the two grade levels tested. The proficiency outcome was reported as zero percent. In science for grade eight, the state suppressed the result because the number of students tested was very small, a common practice to protect student privacy. The school’s overall proficiency index, a combined measure across tested subjects and grades, placed it in the bottom quartile relative to districts in Cass County. A parent considering the school would want to look into this further with the school to understand the academic program and how student progress is assessed.
A district-level record from the Minnesota Department of Education indicates the school was tagged as stopping service to students in the 2024-2025 school year. Records also show a consolidation, with Central Lakes Adventure School renumbered into Harvest Best Academy. Families who were considering this charter option will need to look into that receiving school or other alternatives in the area. The school’s closure is a material fact for any parent or resident: the school is not actively serving students.
Pillager itself is a small residential community, part of the Brainerd Micropolitan Statistical Area, with lake-country surroundings. The town is compact, with Minnesota State Highway and County Road 1 as the main routes. The local housing market has a typical home value that was roughly in line with the state median, with modest annual appreciation. The national economic context at the time of this profile showed a 30-year fixed mortgage rate near six-and-a-half percent, and the national unemployment rate was just over four percent.
Because Central Lakes Adventure School is a charter school and not part of a traditional school district, the typical data points such as graduation rate, chronic absenteeism, and strategic priorities were not available in the source material. The school’s program offerings beyond the core academic subjects were also absent from the data. The school’s grade band covers high school, so state testing is available for the early grades of that span, but the very small student counts mean some results are suppressed or reported as zero, which makes year-over-year trends impossible to assess meaningfully.
For a family evaluating options, the key takeaway is that this school no longer exists as an active charter in Pillager. The data that exists from its final year shows very low test proficiency, a student body that was small and predominantly white, and a high share of students from low-income households. The charter was rebranded and then closed. Any parent exploring this school today would need to investigate Harvest Best Academy or other schools serving the Pillager and Cass County area.
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