The top reported proficiency rate is 34% in English language arts. The lowest is 0% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Aim Academy of Science & Technology
Aim Academy of Science and Technology is a charter school in South Minneapolis serving grades six through eleven, with plans to eventually reach twelfth grade. It opened in 2021 as a new public option, offering a STEM-focused curriculum that includes coding, digital literacy, and partnerships with technology businesses, paired with culturally responsive mentorship. The school is small, and every enrolled student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is almost entirely Black, with a very small number of Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students. Data on the share of students with an individualized education plan or who are English learners was not available.
Minneapolis is Minnesota's largest city and its primary economic and cultural center, home to the University of Minnesota's main campus, major corporations such as Target, General Mills, and the Federal Reserve Bank, and a dense network of parks and lakes. The school sits on a street in a residential area of the city's southern side, a short distance from the urban core. The housing market in the school's ZIP code shows home values and rents that are moderately below the national average, making it a relatively more affordable part of a metro area where the broader county market has seen price growth. For a family considering this school, the immediate neighborhood context is an established city neighborhood with a mix of housing types and access to city amenities.
Because the school opened only a few years ago and serves grades that currently stop before the traditional high school senior year, a full graduation rate is not yet available. The academic performance data that does exist comes from the most recent state assessments. In math, proficiency rates across grades six, seven, and eight are low. Reading proficiency is somewhat higher but still below the midpoint among districts in Hennepin County. Science results for eighth graders show no students reaching the proficient level on the state assessment, although the assessment underwent a name and cut-score change that year, making comparisons to prior years unreliable. The school's overall proficiency index places it below the midpoint relative to other districts in the county.
The school was founded with a specific mission: to provide an integrated STEM education in a culturally responsive environment, with mentorship and industry connections. For a family whose priority is a school with a clear STEM identity and a small, focused environment serving a predominantly Black student body in an urban setting, this school offers that pathway. The academic results are early and limited, and a parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand how instruction is aligning with state standards and what interventions or supports are in place. There is no track record yet of postsecondary outcomes, and the school has not yet graduated a senior class. The data that exists suggests a school in its early stages of building academic performance, with a strong identity and a clear target population but without established evidence of broad student achievement.
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