Lakeaires Elementary, White Bear Lake MN

Original Research by School Decision on Lakeaires Elementary

Lakeaires Elementary serves students from prekindergarten through fifth grade in the White Bear Lake School District, a regular public school situated in a lakeside suburban community northeast of the Twin Cities. The school is one of nine elementary sites in a district that also includes two middle schools and two high school campuses. White Bear Lake is a predominantly residential city with a walkable downtown core and a strong recreational identity centered on the lake itself, which supports sailing, fishing, and ice fishing. Commuting routes including US 61 and I-35E connect the area to Minneapolis and St. Paul, though outside the downtown strip the city is largely auto-oriented. The district’s high school is split across two former buildings, one serving freshmen and sophomores and the other juniors and seniors, a result of a merger in an earlier decade.

The student body at Lakeaires is diverse in racial and ethnic composition. White students make up the largest share, followed by Hispanic students and Asian students, with smaller representation of students who are two or more races and Black students. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that the school serves a mixed-income population. The school does not have reported data on the share of students with individualized education programs or students classified as English learners, so those dimensions are not available for review.

On state assessments administered in the most recent testing year, Lakeaires’ proficiency rates varied by grade level and subject. In mathematics, the share of students meeting standards was in the range of about a quarter to just under half depending on the grade, with the highest performing grade scoring above the midpoint of the range. In English language arts, proficiency rates ranged from around two-fifths to a little above half, with the strongest showing in the upper elementary grade. In science, tested at the fifth-grade level, the proficiency rate was lower. The state changed the science assessment and its cut scores in this cycle, so that result is not directly comparable with prior years. The school’s overall proficiency index placed it in the top quartile relative to districts in Ramsey County, a comparison set that includes more than fifty districts and reflects a wide range of performance.

Because Lakeaires is an elementary school only, there is no graduation rate to report and no high school level course access data. The school’s state testing data covers the tested grades, and no chronic absenteeism figures were available. A parent may want to inquire with the school directly if they wish to understand attendance patterns or the extent of special education and English learner supports beyond what is publicly reported here.

The broader context for families considering this school includes the housing market in the area. Home values in the ZIP code are above the national median and have appreciated modestly over the past year, while rents have increased at a slightly faster pace. The typical mortgage payment for a median-priced home outpaces the typical rent, so homeownership requires a higher monthly outlay than renting in this market. The national unemployment rate was steady in the low single digits at the time of this data, and real median household income nationally has held around the same level in recent years.

The White Bear Lake community has been shaped by a long-running debate over lake water levels, with a study allocation proposed in a recent year to explore solutions linked to reliance on groundwater by surrounding suburbs. No major new housing developments were identified in publicly available sources, and the population has seen a slight recent decline. The city is established and largely built out. The school district has not published details about boundary changes or attendance adjustments in the last several years that were captured in this research, so no information on that topic is available here.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 339%

School 39% · District 59% · ▼ 20 pts below district

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

Grade 446%

School 46% · District 62% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

Grade 527%

School 27% · District 48% · ▼ 21 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 347%

School 47% · District 49% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

Grade 441%

School 41% · District 51% · ▼ 10 pts below district

even with state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 556%

School 56% · District 67% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Science

Grade 514%

School 14% · District 26% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median · even with county median

This schoolWHITE BEAR LAKE 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-income36%Higher-income63%26 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income23%Higher-income53%30 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income32%Higher-income74%42 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income15%Higher-income71%56 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income32%Higher-income56%25 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income11%Higher-income40%29 pp gap