Scitech Academy Charter School, Richfield MN

Original Research by School Decision on Scitech Academy Charter School

SciTech Academy Charter School is a K-8 charter school located in Richfield, an inner-ring suburb of Minneapolis. The school serves a small enrollment of students across kindergarten through eighth grade. The student body is overwhelmingly composed of Black or African American students. All students at the school are reported as qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch.

The school’s name points toward a science and technology focus, though the available data does not include details on specific STEM programs, curricula, or elective offerings, so a family would want to follow up directly with the school about the shape and depth of its academic pathways.

State testing results for the most recent school year are available across grades three through eight in both math and reading, and for science in grades five and eight. The figures represent a single snapshot, as multi-year trend data is limited to only one year, so there is no way to assess whether performance is improving or declining over time. Proficiency rates are low across all subjects and grade levels, and in several grade-level and subject combinations, very few students met the state’s proficiency benchmark. In both seventh and eighth grade math, for instance, no students tested as proficient. Science results in fifth grade and eighth grade also show very low proficiency rates. A parent looking at these numbers would want to discuss with the school how it supports academic growth, how it differentiates instruction, and what interventions are in place for students who are not yet meeting grade-level standards.

Because SciTech Academy offers only kindergarten through eighth grade, there is no high school graduation rate to report. The school’s academic profile, when compared to other districts in Hennepin County, places it among those with the lowest overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades.

Richfield is a dense, built-out community that saw its population peak decades ago and has since focused on redevelopment and maintaining its housing stock and infrastructure. Best Buy’s corporate headquarters is the city’s largest employer, and the city is served by major highways and is adjacent to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. The school is located on West 66th Street, a main commercial corridor, though the school itself functions as a standalone charter site within the broader Richfield landscape rather than as part of the Richfield Public Schools district.

No recent district-level changes or strategic initiatives were found in public records, so it is not possible to describe any recent shifts in the school’s direction, leadership, or programming from the available material.

This is a school serving a population with concentrated economic need. The test results indicate that the majority of students are not reaching state proficiency standards. A family considering this school would benefit from a direct conversation with the staff about academic supports, classroom instruction, and the school’s approach to moving students toward grade-level mastery.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 315%

School 15% · District 15%

▼ 40 pts below state median · ▼ 31 pts below county median

Grade 423%

School 23% · District 23%

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

Grade 511%

School 11% · District 11%

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Grade 65%

School 5% · District 5%

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 70%

School 0% · District 0%

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 0%

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

English language arts

Grade 33%

School 3% · District 3%

▼ 39 pts below state median · ▼ 34 pts below county median

Grade 414%

School 14% · District 14%

▼ 28 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 521%

School 21% · District 21%

▼ 33 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 626%

School 26% · District 26%

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 714%

School 14% · District 14%

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

Grade 815%

School 15% · District 15%

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

Science

Grade 53%

School 3% · District 3%

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 0%

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

This schoolSciTech Academy Charter School, 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.