Original Research by School Decision on Ecse Inclusion
ECSE INCLUSION is a special education school in Saint Paul, serving only prekindergarten students. The school is part of Saint Paul Public Schools, the district that covers Minnesota’s capital city. Because it serves a single early childhood grade and operates as a special education program, it stands outside many of the standard academic measures that apply to elementary and secondary schools. There are no state test results to report, as prekindergarten is not a tested grade level. There is no graduation rate, as the school does not serve high school students. A parent looking at typical school performance indicators will find them absent by design, not as a reflection of weakness.
The school’s enrollment is modest for the prekindergarten level across the district. A substantial majority of students come from households with low incomes, qualifying for free or reduced-price meals. The student body is racially and ethnically diverse, with White students making up roughly half of the enrollment, followed by Asian students, Black students, and Hispanic students. Smaller shares are identified as two or more races or American Indian. Data on students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and English learner status was not available in the records reviewed, though given that this is a special education school with an inclusion focus, families would likely want to ask the school directly about what special education services and supports are provided and how inclusion is structured in the prekindergarten setting.
The school is located on the east side of Saint Paul, in the West Seventh neighborhood near the Mississippi River. Housing in the immediate area reflects a mid-range cost for the region, with a typical home value near the national average and rents that have been rising. The broader Saint Paul area is diverse and dense, with a strong government employer base, a highly ranked park system, and a mix of historic neighborhoods and downtown cultural institutions. Schools within Saint Paul Public Schools operate on separate campuses across the city, and the district has recently introduced new magnet options, including an E-STEM middle school in the suburbs and an East African Elementary Magnet, as well as renaming a middle school. These changes suggest a district actively adjusting its school portfolio, though they do not directly affect a prekindergarten special education program at this time.
ECSE INCLUSION is not a school that will appear on typical test-score rankings or school comparison tools, because it serves a population and grade band for which those metrics do not apply. For a family considering this program, the relevant questions are about the special education services offered, the inclusion model, the staff-to-student ratio, and how the program connects to elementary placements within the district. The available data does not speak to those specifics. What is clear is that the school serves a high-need population in a large urban district, that the student body is economically disadvantaged and diverse, and that the program exists to address early childhood special education needs rather than general education academics. A parent evaluating this option would want to have a direct conversation with the school or the district’s early childhood special education department about the curriculum, therapy services, and transitions to kindergarten.
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