The top reported proficiency rate is 38% in Math. The lowest is 13% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on South Terrace Elementary
South Terrace Elementary serves students from prekindergarten through fifth grade in the Carlton Public School District, a small county-seat town in Carlton County. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and is the only elementary building in the district.
The student body is small. Most students are white, with a notable share of students who identify as American Indian or Alaska Native and a smaller share identifying as two or more races. Other racial and ethnic groups are not represented in the reported enrollment. Just under half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker of economic need. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about those populations.
State testing results are available for the 2024-25 school year, covering math and English language arts in grades three through five, and science in grade five. These are the first results the data set contains, so there is no multi-year trend to compare against. In third-grade math, about half of students met proficiency; in fourth-grade math, that share was lower, and in fifth-grade math it was very low. In English language arts, the share of students meeting proficiency was around a third in third and fourth grades, and lower in fifth grade. Science proficiency in fifth grade was also very low. Taken together, the school’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades sits in the bottom quartile when compared with other districts in Carlton County. The district brief notes that the state changed the assessment name and cut scores in science for this year, which means these results may not be directly comparable to prior years, but no prior data exists here to compare against anyway. A parent may want to discuss these academic outcomes with the school and ask what supports are in place.
Because South Terrace only serves elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to report.
Carlton itself is a small town with a modest population that has grown slowly over recent years, including the absorption of the neighboring city of Thomson. The town provides a car-dependent setting with a compact civic center, and key recreational anchors include Jay Cooke State Park and the Willard Munger Bicycle Trail. Black Bear Casino Resort and county government are notable local employers. Home values in the area are broadly in line with state and national benchmarks.
The district has been exploring options for consolidation or restructuring in recent years, according to publicly reported sources. In 2021, the school board moved away from a proposed consolidation with the Wrenshall district and was instead considering either using the South Terrace campus as a single K-12 site or negotiating a tuition agreement with Cloquet to send high school students there. This is an open question that could meaningfully change the district’s structure, and families should be aware of it. The data available does not indicate whether any of these plans have since been adopted or abandoned, so it is worth following up with the district for the current status.
Overall, South Terrace Elementary serves a small, predominantly white student population in a rural town, with a substantial share of families facing economic need. State test results fall below the midpoint for the county, especially in the later elementary grades. The district’s future configuration remains uncertain, and that uncertainty is a practical consideration for any family looking into this school.
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