The top reported proficiency rate is 0% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on New Code Academy Elementary
New Code Academy Elementary is a small regular public school in Bloomington, serving kindergarten through fifth grade. It operates as a fully online school, part of the Bloomington Public School District, with courses taught by licensed district teachers. This is a permanent enrollment option open to any Minnesota family, not a temporary pandemic-era measure, so it offers a flexible alternative to a traditional brick-and-mortar setting. The same online platform continues through the district’s secondary grades, making this elementary program a potential entry point into a K-12 virtual pathway.
The school is small. The enrollment is modest for an elementary school, with classes that are not especially large at each grade level. The student body is diverse: a substantial share of students are white, a notable share are Black, and there are smaller shares of students who are Hispanic, two or more races, Asian, and American Indian or Alaska Native. A large majority of students come from low-income households, as measured by free or reduced-price lunch eligibility. Information on special education and English learner enrollment was not available in the data, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about those supports.
State testing results from the 2024-25 school year are limited. In math, proficiency rates were reported but very low across grades three, four, and five. In English language arts, the schoolwide proficiency rate was modest. In science, tested only in fifth grade, the number of students tested was small and the proficiency result was suppressed for privacy reasons, with a low participation rate. The school’s overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades placed it in the bottom quarter relative to other schools in Hennepin County. Because this is a fully online school, testing participation and conditions may differ from in-person settings, and a parent may want to understand how the school supports student progress in core subjects and how state assessments are administered remotely.
Bloomington is a large post-World War II suburb of Minneapolis with a car-oriented layout and major commercial development, including the Mall of America. It has more jobs per capita than Minneapolis or Saint Paul and is connected to the city by light rail and bus lines. The housing market in the surrounding area is moderately priced compared with national benchmarks, and rents are typical for the region. The city has extensive parkland and a recent voter-approved sales tax funding new community facilities.
The Bloomington district has invested in several programs of note. Beyond New Code Academy itself, the district offers Bloomington Career and College Academy, a pathway for high school students to earn college credit, and a Computer Science Immersion program in partnership with the University of Minnesota that integrates computer science into other subjects at the elementary and middle school levels. It is not clear from available data how these upper-grade programs connect to the elementary virtual experience, so a family enrolling in this online school may want to ask how the district ensures continuity of curriculum and support through the grades.
For a family committed to online learning from an early age, or one that needs a flexible, district-affiliated virtual option in the Bloomington area, New Code Academy Elementary provides a clear alternative to in-person attendance. The academic outcomes are weak relative to peers in the county, and the testing picture is incomplete, which means a parent should investigate how the school measures progress day to day and what interventions are available when students struggle. The school’s virtual format and small size give it a distinct character within Bloomington’s otherwise traditional public school landscape.
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