Original Research by School Decision on Lion Program-alternative Education
The LION Program-Alternative Education is an alternative high school in Ogilvie, Minnesota, serving grades nine through twelve as part of the Ogilvie Public School District. Ogilvie is a small, rural town with a tight-knit community atmosphere, anchored by local landmarks like the historic concrete water tower, the Ogilvie Tower Museum, and the Ogilvie Raceway. The town has seen modest growth over time and is described as retaining its small-town character. The school district itself is one of the smaller local employers.
The LION Program operates as an alternative school, which means it is designed for students who benefit from a non-traditional educational setting. Its grade band is high school, so a graduation rate would ordinarily be a standard measure, but that data was not available for this school in the provided materials. State testing results were reported but showed a proficiency rate of zero percent in both English language arts and math for the most recent year. Only a single year of data was available for each subject, so no trend can be drawn. These figures represent a significant soft spot, and a parent considering this school would want to understand what the program’s academic expectations and measures of student progress look like in practice, as the state’s standard assessment framework does not appear to capture the work happening here.
The total enrollment was reported as zero in the data, which is likely a reflection of how the alternative program is structured or reported, rather than indicating that no students attend. The school’s racial and ethnic demographics were also reported as zero across all categories, and information on students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, students with disabilities, and English learners was missing. Because this is an alternative school, missing data on these measures may be a function of how the program is categorized or how small the population is, rather than a sign of weakness, but it means there is no public portrait of who the students are.
The LION Program is not a charter school and does not have a magnet designation. Its Title I status is not specified. Discipline data, course access information, staffing details, and attendance rates were all absent from the available records. This means a parent cannot learn from the data here what courses are offered, what the student-to-staff ratio is, or how often students are present. The absence of this information is notable, as it leaves the program’s daily operations and academic structure largely undefined in the public record.
A comparison to other districts in Kanabee County was identified as the relevant frame, but the metrics used for that comparison—overall proficiency, four-year graduation rate, and chronic absenteeism rate—were all listed as not applicable because the entity’s own values were missing. This school effectively sits outside the typical comparative measures. The district brief turned up no recent parent-relevant changes such as referenda or curriculum shifts, so it is not possible to speak to any recent developments in the Ogilvie district that might affect the program.
For a parent or resident, this is a school that exists to serve students who need an alternative path through high school, but the public data provides almost no picture of its academic performance, student body, or operations. A parent considering the LION Program would need to contact the school or district directly to learn about the program’s structure, the students it serves, how progress is measured, and what outcomes look like for those who attend. What is available suggests this is a very small, specialized program that operates outside the typical metrics used to evaluate conventional high schools.
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