The top reported proficiency rate is 32% in English language arts. The lowest is 3% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Quantum Steam Academy Middle School
Quantum STEAM Academy Middle School is a small public charter school in Saint Paul, Minnesota, serving grades five through eight. It operates as part of a single-school charter district that recently expanded to include prekindergarten, so a family with younger children could now find a continuous PreK-through-8 pathway within the same organization. The school’s name signals a focus on science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics, though no specific program details are available in the data to describe how that emphasis plays out in the classroom.
The school is very small, with an enrollment that drops sharply from grade to grade. That small size may allow for close relationships between staff and students, but it also means that the numbers behind any reported metric are based on very few students. The student body is overwhelmingly Black, with a small number of American Indian students and no other racial or ethnic groups represented in the enrollment data. About a fifth of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a rate that is modest compared with many urban schools. Information on students with disabilities and English learners was not available, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about the supports it offers.
State assessment results from the 2024-2025 school year show that student performance on the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments is low across nearly every grade and subject. In math, the share of students meeting state standards falls below one in six in every tested grade, and no eighth grader scored proficient. In English language arts, performance is somewhat higher but still uneven: about half of fifth graders reached proficiency, while the proportion drops through the grades to a very small share of eighth graders. In science, tested in fifth and eighth grades, the share of students reaching the proficient level is extremely small. Overall, the school’s proficiency index across tested subjects and grades falls below the midpoint when compared with other districts in Ramsey County, a pattern that a parent would want to understand in context. Because the school is small and the student population is not evenly distributed across grades, a single cohort can have an outsized effect on the results.
The school is located on Humboldt Avenue in Saint Paul, Minnesota’s capital and second-largest city. Saint Paul is a diverse, dense city built along the Mississippi River, with a mix of government offices, cultural institutions, and residential neighborhoods. The city’s park system is highly ranked, and its downtown hosts the state capitol, professional sports venues, and transit connections to Minneapolis. Housing in the area near the school, based on zip-code level data, shows home values and rents that have been rising modestly in recent years, in line with broader metro-area trends. A short commute from many parts of the city is plausible, but the school draws students from across Saint Paul and beyond, as a charter school with no attendance boundary.
No data on discipline, chronic absenteeism, staffing ratios, or course access was reported, so a family considering the school would need to gather that information directly from the school or from other public sources. The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report.
Quantum STEAM Academy Middle School offers a STEAM-themed academic environment in a small, predominantly Black student setting, but state assessment results indicate that a very large share of students are not meeting grade-level expectations in core subjects. A parent with a student already at or above grade level might want to investigate how the school challenges advanced learners. A parent whose student needs academic support would want to understand what interventions are in place and how the school’s small size affects those resources. The school’s charter status means it operates with some autonomy from the larger Saint Paul Public Schools district, and families choose it by application rather than by residence.
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