Original Research by School Decision on Online728 Elementary School
Online728 Elementary School is the full-time online K-5 program of the Elk River Public School District, a permanent option that the Minnesota Department of Education has approved and that the district has expanded in recent years. It is not a brick-and-mortar building. Families who enroll here choose a fully remote learning environment for their elementary-age child, and the school’s operation reflects that design.
The student body is very small, which directly shapes what can be said about academic performance. Because of the small number of test-takers in each grade, Minnesota’s state assessment results for the 2023-24 school year are suppressed for math, reading, and science at every tested grade level. No proficiency rates are reported, and no comparison to district, county, or state norms is possible from the state data. The number of students who took the tests was extremely low: for example, only a handful of students in third grade, fourth grade, and fifth grade participated across subjects. Participation rates in the fifth grade were markedly below typical levels, which a parent may want to ask the school about directly. For the earlier grades, participation was higher but still based on very few students. This is a scenario where the data itself is a characteristic of the school’s size and format; state testing results simply do not produce usable public metrics for a program this small.
The school serves kindergarten through fifth grade, so there is no high school graduation rate to report or any measure of college or career readiness that applies to the grade band. The enrollment is modest and diverse in its composition, with a majority of students identified as white, a substantial share as Black, and smaller shares as Hispanic and Asian. About a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a figure similar to many Minnesota elementary schools.
Elk River, where the district is based, is a growing commuter community about a short drive northwest of Minneapolis. It has seen sustained population growth and functions as a county seat with a walkable historic downtown, extensive parks and trails, and a mix of manufacturing, health care, and retail employers. The district itself recently passed a capital projects levy for technology, safety, and facility maintenance, and it has also made budget reductions including staffing cuts due to declining enrollment and inflation. The online program’s expansion into a permanent school is one part of the district’s response to changing family preferences.
Because the state has suppressed nearly all academic performance data for this school, any comparison to other schools in Sherburne County is not possible. The normal metrics used to position a school among its neighbors, such as overall proficiency or chronic absenteeism, simply do not apply here due to missing values. The data that exists is the data of a small, specialized program, not a traditional elementary school with a full testing cohort.
Who fits here? A family that has decided on full-time remote learning for the elementary years and wants to stay within the Elk River district. The program’s small size means close attention from the school’s staff, but it also means very limited peer interaction in the traditional sense and a curriculum delivered entirely online. Parents who want to weigh this option should contact the school directly about daily structure, teacher-student interaction, how state testing is handled, and how the school supports students who may need additional help, since the public record offers little detail on staffing levels, special education services, or English learner support. The school’s permanent status within the district suggests it is not a temporary pandemic measure but a continuing alternative for families who prefer remote instruction.
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