Sunrise Park Area Learning Center, White Bear Lake MN

Original Research by School Decision on Sunrise Park Area Learning Center

Sunrise Park Area Learning Center is an alternative middle school in the White Bear Lake Area School District, serving grades six through eight. It operates as a separate setting from the district’s conventional middle schools, and as an alternative school it is designed for students who may benefit from a smaller, more individualized learning environment. The school’s enrollment is modest, and about half of its students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, a marker of economic need well above the district average.

The student body is diverse. White students make up the largest share, but the school also enrolls sizable percentages of Black, Hispanic, Asian, and multiracial students. There is a small American Indian population as well. The school does not report the number of students with disabilities or English learners, so that piece of the picture is not available from the data.

State assessment results for the most recent year show very low proficiency rates in math and reading across all three tested grades. In science, which is only tested in grade eight, no student scored proficient. This places the school’s overall academic performance in the bottom quartile among districts in Ramsey County. It is important for a parent to understand that these numbers reflect the mission of an alternative school: many students arrive having already struggled academically elsewhere, and the school’s focus is often on re-engagement and credit recovery rather than on reaching proficiency benchmarks in a single year. The data does not show how much growth students make from year to year, which might be the more relevant measure here. A parent considering this school should ask about the specific academic supports, the pace of instruction, and what progress looks like for students over time.

Enrollment data shows the school is small, with roughly equal numbers in each grade. No graduation rate appears because the school serves only middle grades. Chronic absenteeism and discipline data are not reported. The school’s governance is typical of a district-run alternative program; it is not a charter school, and its Title I status is not listed.

White Bear Lake itself is a lakeside suburban city roughly twenty miles north of the Twin Cities. It maintains a small-town feel despite its proximity to Minneapolis and St. Paul. Downtown has a walkable cluster of restaurants and shops, and the lake is central to the community’s identity—sailing, fishing, and the summer Marketfest draw families. The school campus sits outside this downtown core, on a street several blocks from the lake. Housing values in the area are typical for the state, with rents slightly above average. The city is largely built out; population has been stable to slightly declining, and the main local issue has been managing the lake’s water level rather than new residential development.

For a family, Sunrise Park Area Learning Center fits squarely as a specialized option. It is not a comprehensive middle school with a broad array of electives or a typical testing profile. It is a place for students who need a different structure and more support than a conventional classroom provides. The low proficiency figures are not surprising for this type of school, but they do mean that a parent should look into the school’s individual academic plans, student progress tracking, and what services are available for students who are far behind grade level. The district offers two conventional middle schools as well, so a family choosing this school is making a deliberate decision about the setting rather than the neighborhood assignment.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 66%

School 6% · District 42% · ▼ 37 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 70%

School 0% · District 44% · ▼ 44 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 50% · ▼ 50 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 66%

School 6% · District 58% · ▼ 52 pts below district

▼ 40 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

Grade 70%

School 0% · District 50% · ▼ 50 pts below district

▼ 36 pts below state median · ▼ 27 pts below county median

Grade 815%

School 15% · District 50% · ▼ 35 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 20% · ▼ 20 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below 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 6Lower-income11%Higher-income0%10 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income5%Higher-income7%2 pp gap