The top reported proficiency rate is 56% in Math. The lowest is 43% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Jordan Elementary
Jordan Elementary serves children from prekindergarten through fourth grade in the Jordan Public School District, a single-building elementary school in a small but growing Scott County city. The school is the entry point for the district’s youngest learners, and its character reflects both the community’s small-town roots and the pressures of steady expansion.
The student body is predominantly white, with a Hispanic population of just over an eighth of students, along with much smaller shares of students who identify as two or more races, Black, Asian, and American Indian. About a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a rate that positions the school within a typical range for the area but below the highest-need schools in the county. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and serves its attendance zone within Jordan.
On state assessments, Jordan Elementary’s results are mixed and worth a careful look for families weighing academic foundations. In math, a clear majority of third and fourth graders met proficiency standards. In reading, however, performance was weaker. About half of fourth graders met the bar, while just over a third of third graders did so. That third-grade reading figure is the lower end of the range and is a soft spot a parent may want to discuss with the school, especially given the emphasis on early literacy as a predictor of later school success. The school’s overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades places it in the top quartile among districts in Scott County, a strong relative showing, though the district-level comparison means the school sits among a range of districts in a more affluent suburban county.
There is no trend data to evaluate because only a single year of testing results was available, so it is not possible to say whether these numbers reflect an upward, downward, or stable trajectory. That is a gap; a parent may want to ask the school for its results from prior years to see the direction.
The school serves a community that is historically a sawmill settlement turned bedroom suburb. Jordan has a traditional small-town downtown, a strong amateur baseball culture, and a notable local landmark in Minnesota’s Largest Candy Store. The city is growing. Its population increased substantially between the 2020 census and a recent estimate, and the district passed a major bond referendum to build a new elementary school, a sign that school facilities were under pressure from enrollment growth. That new building will matter to current and incoming families: it is meant to address capacity and update the physical plant. The current location on Sunset Drive is in a residential area of the city, and the compact size of Jordan means most homes are a short trip from the school. Home values are well above the national median, and most residents commute to jobs outside the city, likely toward the Twin Cities metro. That combination of rising housing costs and a long average commute is common in the outer ring of the metro area.
Because Jordan Elementary only goes through fourth grade, there is no graduation rate to report, and no state testing data for the earliest grades. Those are not gaps; they are simply a function of the grade band. For high school outcomes, a parent would look to Jordan High School, which is part of the same district.
For a family considering this school, the picture is of a mid-sized elementary in a growing outer-suburb community where academic performance in math is solid but early reading results lag behind and merit inquiry. The district is investing in buildings to keep up with population gains. The school’s size is large enough to offer grade-level sections and some peer variety but small enough to feel like a neighborhood school. The peer environment is fairly homogeneous racially and economically, reflecting the broader community. A parent who values a traditional small-town setting with recent facility investment and who wants to press on early literacy will find a reasonable fit. A parent looking for a school with strong demonstrated reading gains or a more diverse student body may want to ask more questions before enrolling.
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