Prodeo Academy St. Paul Middle, Saint Paul MN

Original Research by School Decision on Prodeo Academy St. Paul Middle

Prodeo Academy St. Paul Middle is a small charter school serving only fifth and sixth grades, part of the Prodeo Academy network. The school is located in Saint Paul, Minnesota’s capital and second-largest city, a diverse urban setting with a strong government and cultural presence. The school’s enrollment is small, and the student body is predominantly Asian, with a modest share of Black students and very few from other racial groups. A very high share of students come from low-income households, placing it in a high-poverty context.

On state assessments, the picture is mixed. In math, proficiency rates are solid: above half of students met the standard in sixth grade, and roughly two in five did so in fifth grade. These results, combined with the reading and science scores, place the school’s overall proficiency in the top quartile when compared to districts across Ramsey County—a notable strength given the economic challenges the student body faces. However, reading proficiency is lower: around two in five students in fifth grade and sixth grade met the bar, and seventh grade results (though the school currently serves only through sixth grade) showed about a quarter proficient. Science scores are very low, with a small fraction of fifth graders reaching proficiency. A parent may want to ask the school how it supports literacy and science instruction, particularly in the context of a math-forward performance.

State testing data also includes results for seventh grade, even though the school’s listed grades are only fifth and sixth. This may reflect a data reporting quirk or a prior configuration; the school’s enrollment shows no seventh graders. A family should clarify which grade levels are actually taught and whether those scores apply to this campus.

The school is part of Prodeo Academy, a charter network that is actively expanding. The St. Paul campus, which previously served PreK through seventh grade, is adding an eighth grade for the upcoming school year, completing a full PreK‑8 pathway. That means a student could start here in kindergarten and stay through middle school without needing to transfer.

The housing market in the area is moderate compared to state and national benchmarks, and Saint Paul itself is a stable, slowly shrinking city with a mix of government employment, cultural institutions, and a well-ranked park system. The city’s diversity is reflected in the school’s student body.

In sum, Prodeo Academy St. Paul Middle offers a small, tightly focused middle school experience in an urban charter setting, with math results that stand out favorably among Ramsey County districts. Families should weigh the strong math performance and the upcoming grade expansion against the lower reading and science outcomes, and may want to understand how the school addresses those subjects.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 543%

School 43% · District 25% · ▲ 18 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 23 pts above county median

Grade 654%

School 54% · District 33% · ▲ 21 pts above district

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 39 pts above county median

Grade 763%

School 63% · District 33% · ▲ 30 pts above district

▲ 38 pts above state median · ▲ 49 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 543%

School 43% · District 31% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 642%

School 42% · District 36% · ▲ 5 pts above district

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

Grade 728%

School 28% · District 22% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▼ 8 pts below state median · even with county median

Science

Grade 57%

School 7% · District 7%

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 7 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.