Madison Elementary, Saint Cloud MN

Original Research by School Decision on Madison Elementary

Madison Elementary serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade and is part of the St. Cloud Area School District, a system that educates a substantial share of the city’s children. The school sits in a north-side neighborhood of Saint Cloud, a mid-sized regional center on the Mississippi River that is home to St. Cloud State University, a major hospital system, and a mix of manufacturers and logistics firms. The city has a historic downtown core with a walkable commercial district and civic institutions, and it has been a destination for immigrant communities, particularly from Somalia. The broader housing market in the area is priced moderately relative to national norms, with both home values and rents below the state benchmark.

The student body at Madison Elementary is diverse. A large majority of students come from households that qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The racial and ethnic composition includes Black students as the largest group, followed by white students, then students who identify as two or more races, and smaller shares of Hispanic and Asian students. The school serves a pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade population of a size typical for an elementary school in a district of this scale. No data was available on the share of students with individualized education programs or the share who are English learners, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about those populations and the supports in place for them.

On state assessments, the picture is mixed and generally below the midpoint among districts in Stearns County. In third-grade math and English language arts, the share of students meeting proficiency standards was modest. Fourth-grade reading and math proficiency were slightly lower. Fifth-grade reading was a relative bright spot with a notably higher proficiency rate, but fifth-grade math remained modest, and fifth-grade science proficiency was the weakest subject of those tested. Because the school serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate, and no trend data beyond the single year of results was available, so it is not possible to say whether performance is improving or declining.

Madison Elementary is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and no information was available on whether it receives Title I funding. Program offerings were not reported. The district brief did not identify any recent major changes, such as boundary adjustments or program launches, that would be of note to parents choosing a school.

For a family considering Madison Elementary, the school offers a diverse, high-needs student environment in a stable district within a growing regional city. The academic proficiency numbers are below the average of other elementary schools in Stearns County, which may be a concern. A parent exploring this school should visit, ask about literacy and math interventions, and learn how the school supports its large population of students from low-income households and its diverse language and cultural backgrounds. The housing in the surrounding neighborhood is affordable relative to the state, and the school is part of a district that serves the full K-12 pathway within Saint Cloud.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 337%

School 37% · District 35% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Grade 429%

School 29% · District 33% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 26 pts below county median

Grade 532%

School 32% · District 22% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 334%

School 34% · District 32% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 431%

School 31% · District 29% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Grade 544%

School 44% · District 38% · ▲ 5 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 520%

School 20% · District 18% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

This schoolST. CLOUD 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-income28%Higher-income55%27 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income23%Higher-income58%36 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income33%Higher-income68%35 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income39%Higher-income72%33 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income31%Higher-income55%24 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income21%Higher-income58%38 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income16%Higher-income70%55 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income31%Higher-income53%22 pp gap