Original Research by School Decision on Mahtomedi Preschool
Mahtomedi Preschool is a special education school within the Mahtomedi Public School District, serving only pre-kindergarten students. It is located in Stillwater, a city with a mix of residential neighborhoods, historic tourism along the St. Croix River, manufacturing, and correctional facilities, including two state prisons. The preschool’s setting is in Stillwater, but it operates as part of the Mahtomedi district, not the Stillwater Area Public Schools system.
This is a small school in its grade band. Its enrollment is limited to a single grade level, pre-kindergarten. The student body is predominantly white, with a much smaller share of Black students and a few students who are Hispanic or of two or more races. About a quarter of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is a meaningful but not dominant share of the population.
Because the school serves only pre-kindergarten, no state testing data is available. This is not a gap in school performance; it is a function of the grade band it serves. The school does not serve any grades where statewide standardized assessments are administered. There is no graduation rate, as the school does not serve high school grades. The absence of these data points is a direct reflection of the school’s early childhood, special education mission.
The school is classified as a special education school, which means its programming is designed for students with disabilities. Information on the specific disability categories served, the Individualized Education Program (IEP) rate, and English learner status was not reported. A parent would want to ask the school directly about the specific disabilities it is equipped to serve, the staffing model for special educators and related service providers, and the program’s approach to early intervention and developmental support. This is a specialized setting, not a general-education preschool.
The parent district, Mahtomedi Public Schools, has recently made several changes that affect the broader educational landscape. Voters approved an operating levy renewal in late 2023 that locks in stable funding for a decade, supporting teacher salaries and class sizes. The district expanded full-day kindergarten to all families at no extra cost. It also adopted a new literacy curriculum for elementary grades that is aligned with the science of reading, a shift that will fully roll out in the coming years. For a family whose child may transition from this preschool into Mahtomedi’s elementary schools, these developments signal a district that is investing in early learning and structured reading instruction.
The preschool’s program itself is the key point of fit. This is not a school for the general public; it is a specialized placement for young children who require special education services before entering kindergarten. Parents whose children have diagnosed developmental delays or disabilities may find this to be a critical resource. Families looking for a typical community preschool or a pre-kindergarten program for typically developing children should look elsewhere, as this school’s mission and staffing are focused on special education. The housing market in the Stillwater area, with home values and rents above national averages, reflects a generally higher-cost area, but that context matters more for families considering residence in the district than for the preschool’s day-to-day operations. The school is a targeted program within a district that has been strengthening its early childhood and elementary offerings, but the school itself remains a specialized, small, pre-kindergarten-only special education facility.
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