The top reported proficiency rate is 0% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on St. Paul School of Northern Lights Secondary
St. Paul School of Northern Lights Secondary is a small charter middle school serving only seventh and eighth grades, located in the capital city of Minnesota. With a tiny enrollment for its grade band, it offers an intimate academic setting that stands apart from the much larger district schools in Saint Paul. The school draws students from across the city, and the community it sits in is Minnesota’s political and cultural center, a dense, diverse city built along the Mississippi River with a strong state government presence and a nationally recognized park system.
The student body is predominantly white, with a significantly smaller share of students who are two or more races, and smaller shares who are Black and Hispanic. About half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is in line with many urban schools in the area. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not reported, so a parent cannot determine those proportions from available records. The school is a regular public school that operates as a charter, which means it has its own board and may have a specific educational focus, though no program details were available in the data to describe that focus.
On state assessments, the school’s performance is a clear soft spot. Proficiency rates in both math and reading were very low for a middle school, placing the school in the bottom quarter among Ramsey County schools when compared across all tested subjects and grades. In math, the rate was far below what most families would expect. In reading, though still low, the rate was meaningfully higher than the math result. Science data was suppressed because the number of test-takers was too small to report, a common occurrence in very small schools. Since the school had only one year of test data available, there is no trend to evaluate, so a parent cannot see whether recent performance is an improvement or a decline. A parent considering this school would want to ask the administration directly about academic programming and how the school supports students who are behind.
The school has no high school grades, so it has no graduation rate to report. There is no information on chronic absenteeism, discipline rates, or course access, all of which are gaps. For a school this size, those details may simply go unreported, but a family should inquire about them.
Housing in Saint Paul is moderately priced for a major city, with home values and rents both below the national average, and the 30-year mortgage rate at the time was typical for the period. The unemployment rate was also around the national average, and real median household income was slightly above the national figure. A family moving to the area for this school would find the city’s housing market accessible relative to many other metro areas.
This school is part of the St. Paul School of Northern Lights district, which appears to be a small charter district covering only this school and its related elementary campus. The district brief found no recent major changes to report, so the school has likely operated on a steady footing. For a family seeking a tiny, independent middle school option in the capital city, the school offers scale and a charter governance structure, but the academic results warrant a close look before enrolling.
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