Original Research by School Decision on Rise Academy Online
Rise Academy Online is a public charter school in Saint Paul serving kindergarten through sixth grade. Because of the school’s status, some standard data points are simply not available. The school has no state testing results to review, and the student enrollment figures are reported as zero across every grade level and racial category, which means the school is not currently operating with students on its rolls according to the most recent federal data. A parent should understand that this is not a negative verdict on academic quality but rather a reflection of the school’s current operational state.
The school sits within the Rise Academy district, though it functions as its own entity. Public records show that the brick-and-mortar Rise Academy, previously named College Preparatory Elementary, rebranded to Rise Academy in July 2023 and then ceased serving students after the 2023-2024 school year. The Minnesota Department of Education marks the organization as not active with a stopping date of that school year. Enrollment at the physical school had declined sharply over several years before closure, which would have affected class sizes and program stability for any remaining families. The online campus listed here carries the same district affiliation, but the data shows no active student body, which strongly suggests this online program is also not currently serving students in a measurable way.
Saint Paul itself is Minnesota’s capital and second-largest city, a mix of government offices, dense residential neighborhoods, and cultural institutions such as the Science Museum of Minnesota and the Ordway Center. The city is notably diverse, with a large Hmong community, and sits on the Mississippi River. Housing values in the area around the school’s address are near the state average, though slightly below Minnesota’s overall benchmark, and rents have been rising modestly. The typical home in this zip code costs less than the state median, making the neighborhood relatively accessible for a capital city.
For a family evaluating Rise Academy Online, the central fact is that this appears to be a school that has effectively closed or is in a non-operational status. There are no test scores, no enrollment numbers, no graduation rate, and no program offerings to evaluate. The school’s grade band, kindergarten through sixth grade, means it would not have a graduation rate in any case, but the absence of any enrolled students is the more pressing signal. A parent looking for an online charter option in Saint Paul would need to look elsewhere, as this entity’s data points to a school that is not currently active. The closure of the physical Rise Academy and the empty enrollment figures for the online version together tell a clear story: this is not a viable school choice for the coming year.
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