The top reported proficiency rate is 33% in English language arts. The lowest is 13% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Level up Academy
Level Up Academy is a public charter school in White Bear Lake that serves kindergarten through grade 5. It is a regular elementary school, not a magnet or alternative program. The school operates as its own district, which is also named Level Up Academy.
White Bear Lake is a lakeside suburban city roughly 20 miles north of downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul, though the school’s location on County Road E East places it in a more commercial corridor a short distance from the lakefront. The city retains a small-town character despite its proximity to the metro, with a walkable downtown core, seasonal lake recreation, and a weekly summer market festival. Major employers in the area include Smarte Carte and International Paper, and the housing stock consists largely of single-family homes. Home values in the area sit modestly above the statewide median, and rents have been rising at a moderate clip. The city’s population has been roughly stable in recent years, and the main civic conversation has centered on managing the lake’s water levels rather than on rapid new development.
Enrollment at Level Up Academy is small and spans one class per grade across six elementary grades. The student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Asian, Black, and Hispanic students, and a handful of students who identify as two or more races. About half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, a share that aligns with the broader public school population in the area. Data on students with disabilities and English learners is not reported, so a parent wanting to understand those supports would need to ask the school directly.
State testing results, which cover grades 3 through 5, show that proficiency rates in math, reading, and science are low. In each subject and at each tested grade, the share of students meeting state standards is below the state average for elementary schools. However, when placed in context against all districts in Ramsey County, Level Up Academy’s overall proficiency index sits above the midpoint of that group. In other words, while the raw scores are low, the school performs around the middle of the pack relative to the county’s districts, many of which serve a similar or more advantaged population. This is a useful lens for a parent weighing options: the school is not an outlier in a negative direction within its own county, but its absolute performance suggests that a family looking for high test scores would need to investigate further.
As a charter school, Level Up Academy operates independently of the larger White Bear Lake Area School District, which runs the area’s zoned elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools. The search for recent district-level changes turned up nothing specific, so there are no notable leadership shifts or program overhauls to report. Because the school serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate and no data on college or career pathways.
A parent considering Level Up Academy should weigh the school’s small size and charter status against its academic results. The low proficiency rates are a concern that warrants a conversation with the principal or a classroom visit. The school’s position relative to other Ramsey County districts suggests it is not uniquely struggling, but the numbers are clear about the challenge. Other questions about special education services, class size, and school culture are best answered by the school itself, since the available data does not cover those areas.
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