Fernbrook Elementary, Maple Grove MN

Original Research by School Decision on Fernbrook Elementary

Fernbrook Elementary sits in Maple Grove, a rapidly growing suburban city that functions as a retail, medical, and cultural hub for the northwest Twin Cities metro. The school serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade and is part of Osseo Area Schools, the district that covers Maple Grove and surrounding communities. Maple Grove itself is primarily residential, with a car-dependent layout where nearly all errands require driving. Single-family neighborhoods, corporate office parks, and large shopping complexes like Arbor Lakes define the everyday landscape. The city has an emerging downtown corridor near the Community Center and Town Green, but schools including Fernbrook are on separate campuses in residential neighborhoods rather than clustered there.

Fernbrook is a large elementary school, with enrollment substantial enough to fill multiple sections per grade from kindergarten through fifth grade. The student body is predominantly white, with Black, two-or-more-races, Hispanic, and Asian students each making up smaller but meaningful shares of the population. The proportion of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch is modest relative to many schools, and a substantial share of families in the area own homes in a market where housing values sit above the national median. The housing market in the school's ZIP code has seen appreciation, and rents have risen gradually, reflecting the broader pressures of a desirable Twin Cities suburb.

On state assessments, Fernbrook posts results that place it in the top quartile among elementary schools in Hennepin County, a high-performing county with many strong districts. Across tested grades and subjects, math proficiency rates are solid, with fourth grade standing out as a particularly strong year. Reading and language arts proficiency is also strong, with fifth graders performing well above the state average on the ELA exam. Science results for fifth graders are lower than the math and reading outcomes, though that year's test involved a new assessment format and a change in cut scores, which makes direct comparison less straightforward. A family may want to ask the school about how science instruction and the new test align. The data available covers only the most recent year, so trend information is not yet available to show whether these results represent a stable pattern or a single-year snapshot.

The district has a full-time online school called 279Online that serves K-12 students across Minnesota, offering a flexible option beyond the traditional classroom. A new elementary school, Aspen Ridge Elementary, opened recently in Maple Grove to accommodate enrollment growth, a sign that the area continues to attract families. The school itself does not report data on special education identification rates or English learner proportions, so those dimensions of student support are not visible from the data provided. Similarly, information on discipline, chronic absenteeism, and staffing is absent, which limits the picture of school climate. A parent considering Fernbrook may want to ask the school directly about class sizes, how the school supports students with different learning needs, and what after-school programs or enrichment are available.

The combination of strong academic results, a large suburban elementary setting, and a community with rising housing costs makes Fernbrook a school that fits families looking for a high-performing public school in a growing outer-ring suburb. Families who value walkable neighborhoods or a downtown school setting should know that Maple Grove is car-oriented and that the school sits in a residential area rather than a town center. The district's addition of an online school and a new elementary building suggests the system is investing in capacity and flexibility for its families.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 370%

School 70% · District 57% · ▲ 13 pts above district

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

Grade 476%

School 76% · District 54% · ▲ 22 pts above district

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

Grade 561%

School 61% · District 44% · ▲ 17 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 359%

School 59% · District 44% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

Grade 456%

School 56% · District 42% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Grade 575%

School 75% · District 53% · ▲ 22 pts above district

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 31 pts above county median

Science

Grade 537%

School 37% · District 23% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

This schoolOSSEO 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-income42%Higher-income66%24 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income30%Higher-income64%34 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income56%Higher-income81%24 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income52%Higher-income78%26 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income35%Higher-income83%48 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income46%Higher-income86%40 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income33%Higher-income71%38 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income48%Higher-income73%25 pp gap