Original Research by School Decision on Lincoln International High School
Lincoln International High School is a small charter high school in Minneapolis that serves a population that is almost entirely students of color and from low-income households. The school has a clear mission: every one of its students qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, and the student body is overwhelmingly Hispanic and Black, with a very small number of white and Asian students. This makes it a school that serves a specific community, and a parent considering it should understand what that community looks like and what outcomes the school delivers.
Academically, the state testing data is the central fact here, and it is a difficult one. Proficiency rates in both English language arts and math are extremely low. The school's multi-year trend data only has a single year of results, so there is no trajectory to examine. Given that this is a high school serving grades nine through twelve, these are not early-grade scores that might reflect an untested cohort; they are the results for students approaching graduation. A parent should look into this further with the school, asking what their curriculum is, how they support students who are far below grade level, and what their approach is to getting students to proficiency before they graduate. The comparison data, which would have placed the school relative to other districts in Hennepin County on overall proficiency, the graduation rate, and chronic absenteeism, was not available because the school did not have the needed metrics reported.
The school is a charter school, which means it operates independently of the local school district. It is classified as a regular school, not an alternative or special-purpose school, which is notable given the low proficiency numbers. The lack of data on a number of important metrics is significant. There is no information on the school's discipline rates, course access, staffing ratios, or attendance. The civil rights data that would show whether certain groups of students are disciplined or served differently is also missing. We looked for the school's specific programs, such as Advanced Placement, career and technical education, or college-readiness initiatives, and found no information. The district brief found no recent changes or priorities to report, leaving the school's academic strategy and any recent shifts unclear.
Minneapolis itself is a major urban center, the largest city in Minnesota, with a dense downtown, a large university campus, and a robust park system. The school sits in a city with deep resources, including major employers, cultural institutions, and a public transit system. Housing values in the area are somewhat below the state and national benchmarks, while rental costs have been rising. The broader economic context matters: a parent considering this school is likely looking at a city with a robust job market but also with significant costs, and the school's location in south Minneapolis places it in a neighborhood with a mix of residential and commercial uses.
For a family evaluating this school, the picture is stark. The peer environment is relatively homogeneous in terms of income and race, which may be a draw for families seeking a school that serves newcomer or immigrant populations, but it also means that the school has fewer of the traditional markers of middle-class academic culture such as high testing scores. The school's small size—it serves roughly the same number of students in each grade from ninth through twelfth—means that each student is likely to be known individually, but it also means that the breadth of course offerings is probably limited. Without data on whether the school offers advanced coursework, career pathways, or college-prep support, a family would need to ask directly what a student's day-to-day experience looks like and what happens after graduation. The school's website would be the first place to start, as the data provided does not show any program offerings.
The most important takeaway is the gap between the school's stated mission and its academic results. This is a school where every student is economically disadvantaged, and the state testing results suggest that most students are far below grade-level standards. A family choosing this school would need a clear sense of how the school plans to move students from where they are to a diploma and to postsecondary success, and whether the school has the resources and the track record to do so. The absence of a graduation rate in the data means that even that basic measure of high school completion is not publicly available to evaluate.
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