The top reported proficiency rate is 0% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Falcons Online Academy-middle
Falcons Online Academy-Middle is an online public school serving grades five through eight, operated by the Faribault Public School District. It is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and its enrollment is very small, with students spread across just two grade levels, seventh and eighth. The school is based in Faribault, a city of steady population growth situated at the confluence of the Cannon and Straight Rivers, about an hour’s drive south of Minneapolis–Saint Paul along Interstate 35. Faribault has a historic downtown, a mix of manufacturing and food-processing employers, and a range of civic anchors including a nature center, a state trail, and a performing arts center.
About two-thirds of the student body is white, with the remaining third identifying as Hispanic, and a small number of Asian students. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch programs. The school does not report data on students receiving special education services or those classified as English learners, so a family whose child has those needs should contact the school directly for details.
The most significant characteristic of this school is its state assessment results. On the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments, the school reported a zero percent proficiency rate in both math and reading for the tested grades. This is not a suppression of data for a small group; the state reported these figures as zero. This places the school’s overall proficiency well below the median among districts in Rice County, squarely in the bottom quartile. A parent may want to investigate how the online model works for students at this school and what academic supports are in place. The school also appears to have a very small tested population in science, and the state suppressed those results, likely because the group was too small to report reliably.
There is no graduation rate for this school, because it serves only middle grades. No data on chronic absenteeism was available. The school’s staff-to-student ratio and course offerings were not provided in the available data, so it is not possible to assess the breadth of curriculum or access to advanced coursework from this record.
The district itself did not have any publicly reported recent changes such as referendums, curriculum adoptions, or program launches that were confirmed in the research. A family considering this school would be choosing an online, remote learning format for a middle school student, and the academic performance data suggests that this is a setting where student outcomes have been low. The Faribault community offers a range of other schools, including a middle school, a high school, an area learning center, and a charter elementary school, all within the same district. The comparison data is relative to other districts in Rice County, not to other online schools statewide, so families may wish to ask the school how it compares to other virtual programs in Minnesota. The available evidence is thin for most measures beyond enrollment demographics and test results, but those test results are the central fact a parent will want to discuss with the school before enrolling.
See more original research from School Decision →