Fit Academy, Apple Valley MN - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Fit Academy

FIT Academy is a charter elementary school in Apple Valley, serving kindergarten through fifth grade. It is a regular public school operating as a charter, which means it is publicly funded but independently run, with its own enrollment process and educational model. The school’s name stands for Fitness, Intellect, and Teamwork, and publicly reported information indicates the charter has grown from a K–8 start to a K–12 organization, though this site currently houses only the elementary grades. Enrollment is modest for a K–5 school, and classes appear to be balanced across each grade level. The student body is predominantly white, with a meaningful share of students who are Black and a smaller share who are Hispanic or Asian. Nearly half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker of economic diversity that is higher than what you might find in some neighboring suburban districts. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not reported, which is a gap a parent may want to explore with the school directly.

Academic performance draws on state assessments for grades three through five in math, reading, and science. Results vary noticeably by grade and subject. In math, a little over half of third and fourth graders met proficiency standards, while fifth graders did so at a much lower rate. In reading, the share proficient hovered around half in third and fourth grades, with fifth graders slightly above that. Science testing occurs only in fifth grade, and the proficiency share there was low. Taken together, the school’s overall test performance across tested subjects and grades lands above the midpoint when compared against other districts in Dakota County, a reasonable showing. Still, the sharp drop in fifth-grade math and science scores is a soft spot a parent may want to understand better by asking about curriculum progression, teacher turnover, or intervention supports at that grade level. Because this is the only year of assessment data available, there is no trend line to see whether these results are typical or an outlier.

Apple Valley is a suburban city in the southern Twin Cities metro area. It was largely farmland into the mid-1900s and then grew rapidly through suburban residential development. That growth has slowed sharply, and the city now appears to have reached a mature stage, with a stable housing stock and a slight recent population decline. The community is car-dependent, with major retail corridors along Cedar Avenue and County Road 42, and the Minnesota Zoo is a prominent local institution. Commuter bus service connects to downtown Minneapolis and Saint Paul, and the Red Line bus serves the Mall of America. Housing values in the area are modestly above the statewide median, and rents are similarly positioned, reflecting the broader Twin Cities market.

The charter itself has expanded significantly since opening and publicly notes that it is near enrollment capacity and seeking to expand its facility. That context means that families interested in FIT Academy may face a competitive application process, especially for certain grade levels. The school’s elementary-only focus here, coupled with the charter’s broader K–12 expansion elsewhere, suggests that the organization is committed to growth, but this particular campus remains a neighborhood-scale elementary school. A parent considering FIT Academy should weigh its above-midpoint academic standing against the uneven grade-level results, the lack of reported special education and English-learner data, and the limited historical performance record. The school fits a family looking for a small charter elementary in a mature, car-oriented suburb with access to the amenities and transit of the greater metro area.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 354%

School 54% · District 54%

▼ 1 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 453%

School 53% · District 53%

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 515%

School 15% · District 15%

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 27 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 343%

School 43% · District 43%

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 440%

School 40% · District 40%

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 550%

School 50% · District 50%

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Science

Grade 518%

School 18% · District 18%

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

This schoolFIT 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-income41%Higher-income45%4 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income22%Higher-income52%30 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income33%Higher-income68%35 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income21%Higher-income25%4 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income53%Higher-income55%2 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income44%Higher-income59%15 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income10%Higher-income21%12 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income14%Higher-income8%6 pp gap