Original Research by School Decision on Secondary Special Education
Secondary Special Education in Richfield is a small, single-grade school serving twelve students in twelfth grade under the special education designation. It is part of the Richfield Public School District. The school's entire enrollment consists of twelfth graders, and a substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. The student body is diverse: the largest group is Black students, followed by Hispanic, White, and a small number of Asian students. No data was reported on the number of students with Individualized Education Programs or English learners, though the school’s status as a special education school means that serving students with disabilities is its core purpose.
Because this is a special education school that serves only a single grade and does not participate in the state's standard assessment program, no state testing results are available. For the same reason, there is no four-year graduation rate reported. These gaps are typical for a school of this type and grade span. A parent considering this program would need to work directly with the district to understand academic progress measures and transition outcomes for its students.
The school is located in Richfield, a dense, inner-ring suburb of Minneapolis that describes itself as “the Urban Hometown.” Richfield has a mix of postwar residential neighborhoods, commercial corridors, and a significant corporate presence anchored by Best Buy’s headquarters. The city’s population peaked decades ago then declined due to airport and highway expansion, and it is now focused on commercial and residential redevelopment to remain vital. Housing in the area ranges from single-family homes to condominiums and apartments, with home values around the statewide median and rents slightly above the national rent-to-income benchmark.
The Richfield Public School District has a strategic plan called “Richfield Realized” covering 2021-2026, which sets the district’s vision, goals, and policy direction across academics, student support, and community engagement. This framework shapes budget priorities and curriculum focus. For a school like Secondary Special Education, parents would want to understand how that district plan translates into the specific programming, supports, and transition services available for twelfth graders in a special education setting.
This is a highly specialized program. It is not a neighborhood school or a comprehensive high school; it is a targeted setting for students already receiving special education services in their final year of K-12 schooling. Families considering this school should seek direct information from the district about the instructional model, the types of disabilities served, the student-to-staff ratio, and the post-graduation planning supports in place. No information on course access, staffing, discipline, or attendance was available in the data, so those are natural areas for a family to ask about when contacting the school. The school’s small size and single-grade structure mean that community and peer interaction happen within a very contained group, which may be exactly what some students need and a limitation for others, depending on the student’s goals for their senior year.
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