Original Research by School Decision on Hoa Middle School
HOA Middle School serves grades five through eight as a regular public school in the Hastings Public School District. The school is located in Hastings, a historic river town and the county seat of Dakota County that has evolved into a Twin Cities suburb while keeping its small-town character. Hastings sits near the confluence of the Mississippi, Vermillion, and St. Croix Rivers, with a historic downtown commercial district that functions as the civic and cultural center. The city has about thirty miles of paved biking and walking trails connecting riverfront areas and parks, though it is not served by Metro Transit bus routes, so families will find the broader city car-dependent. Housing values in the area sit above the midpoint nationally, and rents are at a level that makes homeownership more expensive than renting on a monthly basis, a dynamic families moving into the area will want to factor into their budget.
The district itself operates a handful of schools, including Hastings Senior High School, Hastings Middle School, and three elementary schools. A district operating levy referendum was on the ballot, representing a potential lasting impact on property taxes and district funding levels for local families. The district brief did not identify other recent changes such as a curriculum overhaul or a property-tax shift, so parents should monitor the outcome of that referendum as it will affect what the district can offer.
For HOA Middle School itself, the data available for building a picture of its academic environment is thin. State assessment results were not reported, which means there is no proficiency data to characterize how students perform in reading, math, or science relative to state standards. Similarly, there is no four-year graduation rate, which is expected because this school does not serve high school grades. There is no civil rights data on discipline, no information on course access, and no staffing ratios. A parent looking at this school will find few of the metrics commonly used to compare school performance.
Enrollment data was reported but shows zero total enrollment and zero in each grade from five through eight, with the school year not listed. The race and ethnicity counts are all reported as zero as well. The free-or-reduced-price lunch count is missing, so there is no way to gauge the economic need level of the student body. Special population counts for students with disabilities and English learners are also missing. This pattern suggests the enrollment figures may not be current, or the school may have a configuration that does not fit the typical reporting cycle. The directory details confirm the school is open and classified as a regular public school, so it is functioning, but the data system simply does not contain the numbers one would expect for a school of this type.
The school is not a charter school, and its magnet and Title I status are not reported. Because it sits within the Hastings district, which serves the town and its surrounding area, the student body is drawn from this community of roughly eleven square miles that has seen its population stabilize rather than grow rapidly in recent years. The community context includes flour milling, manufacturing of office supplies and plastics, and county government employment as economic anchors.
Given the lack of academic performance data, a parent cannot evaluate HOA Middle School on the standard metrics of proficiency or growth. The wise next step would be to contact the school or district directly to ask about current enrollment, state test results, and the programs offered in grades five through eight. The absence of data does not mean the school is weak, but it does mean a family will need to gather information from other sources to decide whether this school fits their child.
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