The top reported proficiency rate is 55% in English language arts. The lowest is 27% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on St. Paul School of Northern Lights
St. Paul School of Northern Lights is a charter school serving kindergarten through sixth grade in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is a small school, and its charter status means it operates independently of the larger Saint Paul Public Schools district, though it is still a public school open to any student in the state. Because it serves only elementary and middle grades, it has no graduation rate to report and no high school pathways.
The school is located in a residential area of Saint Paul, Minnesota’s capital and the eastern half of the Twin Cities metro area. Saint Paul is a dense, diverse city where state government is the dominant employer, and the city’s park system is nationally recognized. The neighborhood around the school is a mix of older homes and apartment buildings, with the Mississippi River and downtown amenities a short distance away. Housing values in the surrounding zip code are moderately below the state average but close to the national median, and rents have been rising modestly, reflecting the broader metro area.
The student body is relatively small. A substantial share of students come from households that qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that the school serves a mix of income levels but with a notable low-income population. Racially and ethnically, the school is predominantly white, with a smaller number of students who identify as two or more races and smaller shares of Hispanic, Black, Asian, and American Indian students. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about how it supports those groups.
State testing results from the most recent year show a mixed academic picture. In English language arts, the school’s proficiency rates across grades three through six clustered in a range from just under half of students to around three-fifths, with the highest rate in fifth grade. In math, the pattern is different: proficiency rates drop as students get older. The third-grade math proficiency rate was a bit under half, but by fourth grade it had fallen, and in fifth and sixth grades it declined sharply, with the sixth-grade rate very low. Science results for fifth grade, the only tested grade in that subject, showed that a modest share of students met proficiency. When combined into a single index of overall proficiency across all tested subjects and grades, the school’s performance places it in the top quartile among districts in Ramsey County. That positioning is notable because the district comparison set includes many schools with a wide range of results, but it is driven by the stronger reading scores and a relatively small number of tested students. The declining math trend across grade levels is a soft spot that a parent may want to raise with the school to understand what supports are in place.
Because the school serves kindergarten through sixth grade, the student experience is shaped by a single campus. The small size can mean more individual attention, but it also limits the range of elective and extracurricular offerings that a larger school might provide. There was no available information on the school’s specific program offerings, course access, discipline rates, or chronic absenteeism. A parent looking for details on arts, physical education, after-school activities, or special education services should contact the school directly, as those are not reflected in the public data.
The district that authorizes this charter, the St. Paul School of Northern Lights itself, functions as a single-school district. Our search for recent district-level changes or strategic initiatives turned up little, so it is not possible to describe any recent developments in governance, facilities, or academic focus. The school appears to operate without major public drama, but the absence of reported information means a family should do its own due diligence by visiting, observing a classroom, and talking to current parents. In summary, this is a small charter elementary school in Saint Paul with reading results that are a relative strength compared to other schools in the county, but with math proficiency that declines noticeably in the upper grades. It fits a family seeking a smaller setting and willing to investigate how the school addresses its math challenge.
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