Surad Academy, Faribault MN - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Surad Academy

Surad Academy opened in 2023 as a new charter school in Faribault, serving kindergarten through fifth grade with plans to add a grade each year on its path toward becoming a K-12 school. As a charter, it operates as its own independent district, giving it a distinct identity from Faribault Public Schools. The school uses mastery-based, differentiated instruction with culturally-responsive teaching, and publicly reports a low student-to-teacher ratio.

Faribault sits at the confluence of the Cannon and Straight Rivers along Interstate 35, about an hour south of Minneapolis-Saint Paul. The city has a mix of residential neighborhoods and a strong manufacturing base that includes major employers such as Faribault Foods, Jennie-O Turkey Store, and Faribault Woolen Mills. The historic downtown is a designated Main Street community with local businesses, restaurants, and the Paradise Center for the Arts. Housing values in Faribault are below the statewide average, and the city has experienced steady population growth.

The student body is small and entirely Black, a composition that reflects the school's specific mission and family choice rather than the demographics of the surrounding community. An overwhelming share of students come from low-income households, based on eligibility for free or reduced-price meals. Enrollment is spread across classrooms from kindergarten through fifth grade, with small class sizes in each grade.

State assessment results are available for the 2024-25 school year, the first year of testing for the newly opened school. In reading, proficiency rates varied by grade, with third and fifth graders showing some proficiency while fourth and sixth graders had none reported. In math, third graders recorded a moderate proficiency rate, while fourth, fifth, and sixth graders had very low or zero proficiency rates. Fifth-grade science results also showed a low proficiency rate. The school's overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades, when placed among districts in Rice County, falls in the bottom quartile.

Because this is a single year of data from a very new school, there is no trend to examine. A parent considering this school should expect the available test scores to represent a starting point rather than a settled picture of academic performance. The school's small size and recent founding mean that year-to-year results could shift substantially as the student body and instructional model mature.

Surad Academy does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. The school's website and public documentation describe its mastery-based approach, which tracks student progress on subskills rather than using traditional letter grades. The school has stated its intention to grow by adding one grade each year until it reaches twelfth grade, so families with younger children who want a continuous K-12 pathway may want to confirm current progress toward that goal. There is no available information on special education or English learner populations, nor on discipline or attendance patterns, so parents with specific needs in those areas should contact the school directly.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 355%

School 55% · District 55%

even with state median · ▲ 33 pts above county median

Grade 40%

School 0% · district not reported

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

Grade 518%

School 18% · District 18%

▼ 17 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 60%

School 0% · district not reported

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

English language arts

Grade 318%

School 18% · District 18%

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

Grade 40%

School 0% · district not reported

▼ 41 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Grade 536%

School 36% · District 36%

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 60%

School 0% · district not reported

▼ 46 pts below state median · ▼ 38 pts below county median

Science

Grade 59%

School 9% · District 9%

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

This schoolSurad Academy, 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.