Prodeo Columbia Heights Elementary, Columbia Heights MN

Original Research by School Decision on Prodeo Columbia Heights Elementary

Prodeo Columbia Heights Elementary is a public charter school in Columbia Heights, a first-ring northern suburb of Minneapolis. The school serves grades two through four, a narrow grade band that means students enter and exit within a few years. Because the school does not serve tested grades for a high school graduation rate, that metric is unavailable, and state testing data is limited to the grades it does serve.

The student body is predominantly Black and Hispanic, with a small number of white students and even fewer students identifying as two or more races. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a high level of economic need in the school community. The school district is Prodeo Academy, which is a charter network; its St. Paul campus is adding eighth grade, completing its planned PreK-8 pathway there.

On state assessments in the 2024-25 school year, the school's results sit in the bottom quartile relative to districts in Anoka County when looking at overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades. In math, proficiency rates for both third and fourth graders were below the midpoint for the county, and in English language arts, proficiency rates were lower still. A parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand what academic supports and interventions are in place and how the school is working to move these numbers.

Columbia Heights itself is a compact, densely developed city with a mix of residential neighborhoods and commercial corridors. The downtown district around 40th Avenue NE and Central Avenue NE contains the public library, the Heights Theater, and county offices. The city has five lakes and a hilly terrain, and its park system occupies lower-lying areas. Central Avenue and University Avenue are the main north-south routes, and the city borders Minneapolis to the south. The community has historic Polish-American roots, which are acknowledged on the border sign at the Minneapolis line.

For a parent weighing this school, the key considerations are the school's charter model, its focused grade span, and the academic data that places it below area averages. The school serves a high-need population in a compact, older suburban setting with a walkable downtown node. The district brief identified no recent or upcoming changes directly affecting the Columbia Heights campus.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 335%

School 35% · District 40% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 431%

School 31% · District 33% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 313%

School 13% · District 22% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 29 pts below state median · ▼ 26 pts below county median

Grade 427%

School 27% · District 29% · ▼ 2 pts below district

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

This schoolProdeo Academy, 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income13%Higher-income10%3 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income31%Higher-income60%29 pp gap