Southside Family Charter School, Minneapolis MN

Original Research by School Decision on Southside Family Charter School

Southside Family Charter School is a kindergarten-through-eighth-grade charter school located in Minneapolis, a major urban center that serves as Minnesota’s most populous city and a dense hub of corporate headquarters, arts institutions, and the main campus of the University of Minnesota. The school sits in a city with a gridded urban core, an extensive park system linked by a scenic byway, and a riverfront district that connects downtown to the university area. The city’s population has seen a slight decline in recent years, and its housing market reflects a value that sits above the national benchmark, with rents following a similar pattern.

The school itself is small, with an enrollment that falls well under the typical size for a K-8 building. The student body is racially and ethnically diverse, with a mix that includes a substantial share of white students, a smaller but notable presence of Black students, and groups of Hispanic students and students who identify as two or more races; there is also a very small number of Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students. A majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing this school in a context where economic need is the norm rather than the exception.

Academically, the picture is mixed and warrants a close look. On the most recent state assessments, proficiency rates varied considerably by grade and subject. In math, performance ranged from very low in the lower elementary grades to a stronger showing in seventh and eighth grade. Reading, or English language arts, followed a similar pattern: the early elementary and fifth-grade results were quite weak, while sixth and eighth grade posted considerably higher rates, with seventh grade landing at the midpoint. Science results for fifth grade were absent, while eighth-grade science proficiency was low. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school’s overall proficiency index sits above the midpoint when compared to other districts in Hennepin County, though this is a measure that averages together strong and weak performances, and the individual grade-level swings are wide enough that a parent may want to ask the school directly how it supports students who are struggling in the early grades.

Because the school serves only through eighth grade, there is no four-year graduation rate to report, and no chronic absenteeism data was available in the data provided. The school’s status as a charter means it operates independently of the local district, and it does not appear to have magnet or Title I designations in the available records. The search for recent district-level changes or strategic priorities turned up little of lasting impact, so this account does not include any such details.

For a family considering this school, the key takeaway is that Southside Family Charter School offers a small, diverse, urban setting with a student body where economic need is common. Its test results show sharp variation, with some grades delivering solid proficiency and others falling well short, suggesting that the school’s overall standing masks real differences in how students perform at different ages. This is a school that may fit a family looking for a small charter environment in the city, but the academic numbers are uneven enough that a visit and conversation with the staff about how they address early-grade gaps would be a reasonable next step.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 340%

School 40% · District 40%

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 40%

School 0% · district not reported

▼ 51 pts below state median · ▼ 43 pts below county median

Grade 50%

School 0% · District 0%

▼ 35 pts below state median · ▼ 29 pts below county median

Grade 623%

School 23% · District 23%

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 746%

School 46% · District 46%

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 29 pts above county median

Grade 842%

School 42% · District 42%

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 350%

School 50% · District 50%

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Grade 40%

School 0% · district not reported

▼ 41 pts below state median · ▼ 36 pts below county median

Grade 521%

School 21% · District 21%

▼ 32 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 671%

School 71% · District 71%

▲ 25 pts above state median · ▲ 37 pts above county median

Grade 750%

School 50% · District 50%

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

Grade 867%

School 67% · District 67%

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 30 pts above county median

Science

Grade 50%

School 0% · District 0%

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Grade 825%

School 25% · District 25%

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

This schoolSOUTHSIDE FAMILY CHARTER SCHOOL, 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.