Original Research by School Decision on Special Ed-non Public
SPECIAL ED-NON PUBLIC is a small special education school serving kindergarten through grade 12 in Edina, a first-ring suburb of Minneapolis. The school operates under the Edina Public School District, though its specific relationship to the district and the students it serves is not fully detailed in available data.
The school is tiny, with a very small total enrollment. Students are concentrated in first and second grades, with no students reported in any other grade level from kindergarten through twelfth grade. Every enrolled student is white. Data on the share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, students with individualized education programs, and English learners were not available. Because this is a special education school, the student population likely includes children with disabilities who require a specialized setting, but the data do not confirm the specific needs or diagnoses the school serves.
State testing data is entirely absent from the records. The comparison system that positions schools relative to other districts in Hennepin County marked proficiency, graduation rate, and chronic absenteeism as not applicable because the data were missing for this school. A school of this type and size may not participate in standard state assessments in the same way a traditional school does, or the enrollment may be too small for results to be reported publicly. No graduation rate is available, which is consistent with the fact that the school reports no enrolled students in grades nine through twelve.
Given the extremely small size and specialized mission, this school does not generate the typical academic performance metrics that parents use to evaluate schools. A family considering this placement would need to work directly with the school and the Edina district to understand the instructional approach, the specific disabilities and needs the program addresses, and how student progress is measured outside of standard state tests.
Edina itself is an affluent, primarily residential suburb with high housing costs. The median home value is well above national and state benchmarks, and rents are also high. The city is car-dependent, with a suburban layout divided by highways and commercial nodes rather than a single walkable downtown core. Parks and recreation are a defining feature, including Centennial Lakes Park and Braemar Golf Course. The Edina district has recently made several notable changes. It approved a budget reduction of a substantial sum for the 2024-25 school year, driven by declining enrollment and the expiration of federal pandemic relief funds, and it extended the elementary school day for the first time in decades. The district also increased its property tax levy, and it launched a full-time online high school program as a permanent option.
For a parent or guardian, the key takeaway is that SPECIAL ED-NON PUBLIC is a very small, specialized setting within the Edina district. Any decision about this placement would require direct conversation with the school and district to learn exactly what services are provided, how student progress is assessed, and whether the program matches a child's specific needs. The standard academic benchmarks that most families rely on to compare schools simply do not apply here.
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