Original Research by School Decision on Ne Metro Tartan
NE Metro Tartan was an alternative school in Oakdale, Minnesota, part of the Northeast Metro 916 Intermediate District. It is now closed. That is the single most important fact for any parent or resident reading this: the school no longer admits students. The building at 828 Greenway Avenue N may still stand, but it is not a functioning school site.
What kind of school was it? The state designates it as an alternative school, which in Minnesota typically means a program serving students who need a non-traditional setting—often for credit recovery, behavioral support, or a smaller, more flexible environment. Northeast Metro 916 itself is a specialized intermediate district that provides shared services to member school districts in the eastern Twin Cities metro, including special education programs, career and technical education centers, and alternative learning programs. NE Metro Tartan fit into that third category: an alternative option likely drawing students from multiple nearby districts such as North St. Paul–Maplewood–Oakdale, Stillwater, and others. The grade band listed is “M through M,” a placeholder that does not clearly indicate the actual grade levels served; given the alternative nature, it probably spanned middle and high school grades, but the specific range is not available from the data.
Because the school is closed, nearly all standard data fields are empty. There are no enrollment numbers, no demographic breakdown, no state assessment results, no graduation rate, no civil rights or discipline data. This is not a gap caused by an untested grade band—the school's operational status and the lack of a current academic record explain why the data is missing. For a parent wondering about academic performance, peer environment, or student support, there is simply nothing to report from this record. The school may have had detailed information when it was open, but those records are not part of this dataset.
The context of Oakdale remains relevant as the school's former location. Oakdale is a suburban city on the eastern edge of the Twin Cities, a mix of residential neighborhoods and commercial-industrial corridors. It is car-oriented, bounded by major highways, with no traditional downtown. The city has 29 parks, including the Oakdale Nature Preserve and Walton Park, which hosts community events. Housing values and rents in the Oakdale ZIP code are roughly in line with state and national benchmarks, with recent modest appreciation. The city is growing, with population projected to increase and a new bus rapid transit line under development. But that growth has no bearing on a closed school.
Northeast Metro 916 as a district continues to operate other programs. The district brief found no recent parent-relevant changes such as referendums or curriculum overhauls for the district as a whole. Because NE Metro Tartan is closed, any question about current academic pathways, peer environment, or student support at this specific site is moot. Parents or residents looking for an alternative school in the area would need to contact Northeast Metro 916 directly to learn about other alternative programs they currently operate.
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