St. James Northside Elementary, Saint James MN

Original Research by School Decision on St. James Northside Elementary

St. James Northside Elementary serves kindergarten through fifth grade in the Watonwan County seat of St. James, a small city with a historic downtown, a major food-processing plant, and a culturally diverse population. The district operates as St. James Public School District, and Northside is one of its elementary schools. Housing in the area is well below state and national benchmarks for median home value, which, combined with a modest cost of living, makes this a relatively affordable place to live. The city has seen slight projected population decline but also recent public and private investment, including a successful school district referendum.

The student body is composed predominantly of Hispanic/Latino and white students, with a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and serves just the elementary grades.

On state assessments in the most recent testing year, proficiency rates varied by subject and grade level. In math, the share of students meeting state standards was relatively low in third, fourth, and fifth grade. In English language arts, third and fourth graders also showed low proficiency, while fifth graders performed somewhat higher. Fifth-grade science results were weak, with a small fraction of students reaching proficiency. A parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand how the curriculum and instructional supports address these areas. Because only one year of data was available for most subjects, no trend can be assessed at this point.

Compared to other districts within Watonwan County, Northside Elementary's overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades sits above the midpoint, though the county is a small comparison set of only three districts. No graduation rate or data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, staffing, or course access was available for this school. The district brief turned up little of lasting impact regarding recent changes.

St. James is a compact, car-dependent community outside the downtown core, though it does have a walkable historic downtown with shops, a theater, and public art. The local economy is anchored by Tony Downs Foods Co. and the school district itself, alongside county government. Civic anchors include a lake, parks, a golf course, and a renovated baseball venue. For families considering this school, the community offers a small-town, county-seat setting with a diverse population and recent signs of investment, while the academic data suggests that achievement, particularly in science and early literacy and math, is an area where the school is working from a low base relative to state expectations.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 350%

School 50% · District 50%

▼ 5 pts below state median

Grade 439%

School 39% · District 39%

▼ 12 pts below state median

Grade 536%

School 36% · District 36%

▲ 1 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 331%

School 31% · District 31%

▼ 11 pts below state median

Grade 431%

School 31% · District 31%

▼ 11 pts below state median

Grade 544%

School 44% · District 44%

▼ 10 pts below state median

Science

Grade 56%

School 6% · District 6%

▼ 18 pts below state median

This schoolST. JAMES 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-income15%Higher-income60%45 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income22%Higher-income41%18 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income32%Higher-income59%26 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income37%Higher-income73%36 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income27%Higher-income54%27 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income22%Higher-income55%34 pp gap