The top reported proficiency rate is 77% in Math. The lowest is 47% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on O.h. Anderson Elementary
O.H. Anderson Elementary is the upper-elementary building in the Mahtomedi Public School District, serving grades three through five. It sits in Mahtomedi, a residential suburb on the northeast shore of White Bear Lake, between St. Paul and Stillwater. The community originated as a Chautauqua summer retreat and has kept its small-town character, with modest commercial strips, a network of parks and trails, and the Gateway State Trail running through the area. The district’s elementary program is split: Wildwood Elementary handles kindergarten through second grade, and Anderson takes over for the next three years. That makes Anderson the place where students transition from early literacy into more structured upper-grade work, including the first round of state science testing in fifth grade.
On state assessments administered in the 2024-25 school year, Anderson’s students posted results that place the school in the top quartile for overall proficiency relative to districts in Washington County. In mathematics, strong majorities of students met the standard at each grade level, with the highest share in third grade and solid performance continuing into fourth and fifth. Reading and language arts results were more varied: third and fifth graders performed well above the county midpoint, while fourth-grade reading was somewhat lower, though still on the higher side relative to the broader field. Science, which is tested only in fifth grade, showed a more mixed picture, with a modest share of students meeting the bar. The science assessment underwent recent changes—both the test name and cut-score thresholds shifted—so the results sit in a different context than earlier years; a parent may want to ask the school how the current science curriculum aligns with the new standards.
The student body is predominantly white, with a measurable presence of students who identify as Hispanic, Black, Asian, or two or more races. About one in six students qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a rate that is relatively low compared with state and national averages. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available for this year, which means a parent who needs that information should contact the school directly to understand special-education services or multilingual supports. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and serves its attendance area within the district.
Several recent district-level changes directly affect what families experience at Anderson. In the 2022-23 school year, the district expanded its existing device program so that every student in grades three through twelve now has a dedicated Chromebook or laptop; Anderson’s third graders receive their first take-home device when they arrive. That same year, full-day kindergarten was made available to all families at no cost—relevant to families with younger children who will eventually reach Anderson. In 2023-24 the district adopted a new literacy curriculum for elementary grades, grounded in the science of reading, with full implementation expected by 2025-26. And voters approved a ten-year operating levy renewal in late 2023, which keeps funding for teachers, class sizes, and academic programs at its current level.
For a family considering the school, Anderson sits inside a well-resourced district that has made recent, deliberate investments in early literacy, digital access, and stable operating budgets. Its academic results are strong, especially in math and in the upper elementary grades for reading. The middle-of-year transition from Wildwood to Anderson is an established pattern in the district, so siblings and neighborhood peers move together. The community itself is low-key and lake-oriented, with limited walkable retail but good access to regional trails and parks. Housing values in the area are well above national medians, consistent with the affluent eastern Twin Cities suburbs. Anderson is not a school where a family would worry about basic academic outcomes; the question is whether the specific mix of programs, class size, and instructional approach matches what they are looking for in the years before middle school.
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