South St. Paul Middle School, South Saint Paul MN

Original Research by School Decision on South St. Paul Middle School

South St. Paul Middle School serves sixth through eighth graders in the South St. Paul Public School District, a regular public school centrally located in the city. The school draws from a community that was long defined by the Saint Paul Union Stockyards and meatpacking industry; those operations have closed, and the city is now focused on redeveloping the former stockyards and riverfront areas into mixed-use districts. The school district is itself a significant local employer, and the city retains a blue-collar identity with a population that includes a large Hispanic or Latino share alongside families of Eastern and Southern European heritage. The built environment is made up of older neighborhoods on a grid, with a Mississippi River trail system and Metro Transit bus routes, but daily errands generally require a car. The median home value and rents in the area reflect a market that is somewhat less expensive than the state average, and the city has an active comprehensive plan guiding infill development and revitalization.

The student body is diverse. About half the students identify as white, roughly three in ten as Hispanic or Latino, and smaller shares as Black, Asian, or of two or more races. A substantial majority of students come from households with low enough incomes to qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which signals a high-need population. The middle school enrolls a total student count typical of a three-grade public school in a community of this size.

On state assessments, the school’s proficiency rates across math, English language arts, and science are well below the midpoint among districts in Dakota County. In math, proficiency was reported in the low to moderate range across grades six through eight. In English language arts, the rate was somewhat higher overall, though it dropped notably between sixth and eighth grade. The eighth-grade science proficiency rate was very low, and the assessment in that subject had changes in both the test name and cut scores, so direct comparisons to prior years are not possible. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school’s overall proficiency index placed it in the bottom quarter among Dakota County districts. A single year of data was available, so no trend can be established. A parent may want to ask the school directly about its strategies for supporting students who are not yet meeting grade-level standards, particularly in math and science.

No information was available on discipline, chronic absenteeism, staffing ratios, course access, or special-education and English-learner populations. The school’s Title I status was not reported, nor was magnet or alternative designation. These are gaps a family would need to fill by contacting the school or district.

The district itself showed no recent changes of note in publicly available materials.

For a family choosing a middle school, South St. Paul Middle School sits in a compact, historically rooted city with an active redevelopment plan and a diverse, working-class population. The school serves a student body with significant economic need, and its academic outcomes on state tests are below average for the county. A parent considering this school would want to understand what interventions and academic supports are in place, and how the school works to move students toward proficiency across subjects.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 620%

School 20% · District 20%

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 729%

School 29% · District 29%

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 817%

School 17% · District 17%

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 646%

School 46% · District 46%

even with state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 742%

School 42% · District 42%

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 830%

School 30% · District 30%

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Science

Grade 89%

School 9% · District 9%

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

This schoolSouth St. Paul Public School Dist, 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 6Lower-income38%Higher-income62%23 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income33%Higher-income54%22 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income20%Higher-income48%28 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income17%Higher-income29%12 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income22%Higher-income39%17 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income8%Higher-income35%26 pp gap