Valley View Middle, Bloomington MN

Original Research by School Decision on Valley View Middle

Valley View Middle School is a regular public school in Bloomington, Minnesota, serving students in grades six through eight. It is part of the Bloomington Public School District, one of the larger suburban districts in the Minneapolis area. Bloomington itself is a post-World War II housing boom suburb that has grown into a major employment center, home to the Mall of America and numerous corporate headquarters. The city is car-oriented, with limited walkability outside commercial strips, but is connected to downtown Minneapolis by light rail and bus lines. About a third of the city’s land is parkland. The school sits in a residential neighborhood, reflecting the broader suburban character.

Enrollment includes a substantial share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is diverse: the largest single group is Hispanic, followed by Black students, White students, students identifying as two or more races, and smaller shares of Asian and American Indian students. The school’s grade band means that it does not have a graduation rate, and no chronic absenteeism or discipline data were available in the materials reviewed.

State assessment results for the most recent year provide a picture of academic performance. In math, proficiency rates across grades six through eight were low, with the highest rate among eighth graders. In English language arts, rates were somewhat higher but still modest; sixth graders showed a higher proficiency rate than seventh and eighth graders. In science, only one grade level (eighth) was tested, and the proficiency rate there was also low. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school’s overall proficiency index placed it below the midpoint among districts in Hennepin County. Only a single year of testing data was available, so no trend can be assessed. Parents may want to discuss these results directly with the school to understand the instructional context and any improvement strategies.

The surrounding housing market is typical of a large inner-ring suburb: home values are above the national median, and rents reflect a similar pattern. The school’s zip code area has seen modest appreciation in recent years.

District-level offerings may matter to Valley View families, even though the school itself is a middle school. The district has introduced a fully online K-12 option, New Code Academy, which allows families to choose remote instruction taught by Bloomington teachers. A Career and College Academy gives high school students early college credit, and a Computer Science Immersion program integrates computer science across subjects in elementary and middle schools. These programs are not specific to Valley View but are available within the district.

Overall, Valley View Middle School serves a diverse, lower-income student body in a well-resourced suburban setting. Its state test results are weaker than many of its county peers, and families exploring the school should seek information on how the school supports academic growth in the middle grades. The district’s broader programmatic options provide some flexibility for families, but the school’s own academic picture is the central consideration.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 618%

School 18% · District 36% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 714%

School 14% · District 35% · ▼ 21 pts below district

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

Grade 825%

School 25% · District 38% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 634%

School 34% · District 53% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 721%

School 21% · District 37% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 826%

School 26% · District 38% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Science

Grade 810%

School 10% · District 19% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

This schoolBLOOMINGTON PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT, 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 6Lower-income26%Higher-income57%31 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income13%Higher-income39%26 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income18%Higher-income51%33 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income11%Higher-income38%27 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income8%Higher-income28%20 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income18%Higher-income49%31 pp gap