Armatage Elementary, Minneapolis MN

Original Research by School Decision on Armatage Elementary

Armatage Elementary is a regular public school in Minneapolis, serving students from prekindergarten through fifth grade. It is part of the Minneapolis Public School District, a large urban district that has been navigating declining enrollment, a major budget deficit, and a restructuring of school pathways and attendance boundaries in recent years. Armatage sits in a southwest Minneapolis neighborhood, a residential area of the city with single-family homes and a strong sense of local identity.

Academically, Armatage stands out for its strong performance on statewide assessments. In reading and math, the school’s proficiency rates are among the highest in Hennepin County, placing in the top quartile of elementary schools across the county’s districts. In the lower elementary grades, the share of students meeting state standards is particularly high. In third and fourth grade math, for instance, the large majority of students scored at or above the proficiency bar, and reading results at those grade levels are similarly strong. Fifth grade math results are solid but notably lower than in third and fourth grade, a pattern that parents may want to ask the school about in terms of curriculum or support as students approach the transition to middle school. Science is tested only in fifth grade, and here the proficiency rate is lower than in math and reading, which is common among many elementary schools and may reflect the narrower scope of science instruction at this level.

The school enrolls a moderate number of students, small enough that families can expect a relatively intimate setting. The student body is majority white, with smaller shares of students who identify as two or more races, Black, Hispanic, and Asian. About a fifth of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a lower rate than the district average. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the profile, so those are gaps a prospective parent would want to investigate directly with the school.

Home values in the zip code are well above the Minnesota state median and the national median, reflecting the desirability of this southwest Minneapolis corridor. Rents are also above average. The area offers quick access to the city’s extensive park system, lakes, and the chain of parks along Minnehaha Creek. Families choosing Armatage are typically in a position to afford the higher housing costs of the neighborhood.

The district context matters for any family looking at this school. Minneapolis Public Schools closed three schools in 2023 as part of a response to enrollment decline, and the district faced a significant budget shortfall for the 2025 school year. A 2020 operating levy increase was rejected by voters, though a technology levy was renewed in 2022. The Comprehensive District Design adopted in 2020 has been phasing in changes to school feeder patterns and attendance boundaries. Armatage Elementary itself shows strong student outcomes and has a well-regarded standing within the district, but the broader district financial picture may affect programming, class sizes, and school-level resources in the years ahead. Families considering this school should factor in both the school’s current academic strength and the district’s ongoing fiscal and enrollment pressures.

No high school or graduation data applies here because Armatage is an elementary school. The school does not report chronic absenteeism rates in the available data, so that is another detail a parent may wish to follow up on. What is clear is that Armatage delivers high levels of proficiency in core subjects, especially in the early and middle elementary grades, and sits in an expensive, well-located urban neighborhood that attracts families seeking strong public schools within the city.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 382%

School 82% · District 45% · ▲ 37 pts above district

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 36 pts above county median

Grade 480%

School 80% · District 43% · ▲ 38 pts above district

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 37 pts above county median

Grade 561%

School 61% · District 32% · ▲ 29 pts above district

▲ 26 pts above state median · ▲ 32 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 375%

School 75% · District 40% · ▲ 35 pts above district

▲ 33 pts above state median · ▲ 38 pts above county median

Grade 478%

School 78% · District 39% · ▲ 40 pts above district

▲ 37 pts above state median · ▲ 42 pts above county median

Grade 579%

School 79% · District 46% · ▲ 32 pts above district

▲ 25 pts above state median · ▲ 35 pts above county median

Science

Grade 548%

School 48% · District 26% · ▲ 22 pts above district

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 28 pts above county median

This schoolMinneapolis Public School District, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income46%Higher-income82%36 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income56%Higher-income87%31 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income36%Higher-income92%56 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income42%Higher-income93%52 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income50%Higher-income93%43 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income27%Higher-income72%46 pp gap