Oak Hill Montessori Community, Shoreview MN

Original Research by School Decision on Oak Hill Montessori Community

Oak Hill Montessori Community sits in Shoreview, a second-ring suburb north of Saint Paul in Ramsey County. The city is primarily residential, set among lakes and green space, with a notable corporate presence including Land O’Lakes. The school itself is a public charter that converted from a longstanding private Montessori school in 2021, making its AMI-accredited Montessori program tuition-free for kindergarten through eighth grade. This is a defining fact for anyone considering the school; what was once a private tuition model is now publicly funded and open to any family in the region.

The school serves preschool through eighth grade, with a small total enrollment. The student body is predominantly White, with a small share of Asian students and smaller shares of Black or Hispanic students. A very modest portion of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a figure well below the typical profile in Ramsey County. The school reports no data on special education or English learner populations, which a parent may want to ask about directly.

State test results are available for grades three through eight in math, reading, and science, but the data covers only one school year, so there is no trend to observe. In reading, proficiency rates across grades run mostly in the range from roughly sixty to just over eighty percent, with the highest rate in sixth grade. Math scores are more variable; they range from about twenty percent proficient in fifth grade to over seventy percent in fourth grade, with several other grades clustering around half or just above. Science results, which apply to grades five and eight, are notably lower, particularly in fifth grade where the proficiency rate falls well below the state norm for that grade. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, especially since the state changed the science assessment and cut scores in the tested year, which complicates direct comparison.

Compared to other districts in Ramsey County, the school’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places it in the top quartile among the districts in the county. That is a strong relative position, though the school’s size and unique Montessori model make it quite different from the traditional district-run schools that mostly populate that comparison set.

There is no graduation rate because the school ends at eighth grade. Similarly, no chronic absenteeism data appears, so it is not possible to comment on attendance patterns. The school does not report discipline data or course access offerings, and no program details were provided.

Shoreview itself is a car-oriented suburban community with extensive trails, parks, and lakes. It has no traditional downtown; civic and commercial life is distributed along highway corridors. The housing market reflects a suburban area with home values that have risen steadily and sit above national benchmarks. The city’s population grew through the late twentieth century but growth has slowed in recent years. Two traditional public school districts, Mounds View and Roseville, serve most Shoreview children, so Oak Hill Montessori operates as a distinct, smaller alternative.

For a family considering Oak Hill Montessori, the core question is whether the Montessori model, with its mixed-age classrooms and self-directed learning philosophy, fits their child’s learning style and their family’s priorities. The school’s academic record shows solid reading performance and a mixed math picture, with an overall index that ranks well among Ramsey County districts. The science results, particularly in fifth grade, bear asking about. The small size, the charter status allowing open enrollment, and the tuition-free access to an accredited Montessori program are the school’s defining features. It serves only through eighth grade, so families will need a plan for high school placement.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 350%

School 50% · District 50%

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 472%

School 72% · District 72%

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 46 pts above county median

Grade 521%

School 21% · District 21%

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 632%

School 32% · District 32%

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 756%

School 56% · District 56%

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 43 pts above county median

Grade 853%

School 53% · District 53%

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 35 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 360%

School 60% · District 60%

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 33 pts above county median

Grade 467%

School 67% · District 67%

▲ 26 pts above state median · ▲ 43 pts above county median

Grade 563%

School 63% · District 63%

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

Grade 684%

School 84% · District 84%

▲ 38 pts above state median · ▲ 51 pts above county median

Grade 775%

School 75% · District 75%

▲ 39 pts above state median · ▲ 48 pts above county median

Grade 871%

School 71% · District 71%

▲ 35 pts above state median · ▲ 38 pts above county median

Science

Grade 511%

School 11% · District 11%

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 829%

School 29% · District 29%

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

This schoolOak Hill Montessori Community, 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.