North Side Community-grand Ctr, St.louis MO

Original Research by School Decision on North Side Community-grand Ctr

North Side Community-Grand Center is a charter school in St. Louis serving grades six through eight. It is a small school with a student body that is predominantly Black. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

The school’s state testing data from a recent year shows proficiency rates in math that fell below the midpoint among districts in St. Louis city, while the overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades sat above the midpoint of that same group. Looking at the grade-level results, math proficiency was in the mid-teens in sixth and seventh grades, and in the low teens in eighth grade. English language arts results varied more clearly by grade: seventh graders posted a noticeably stronger result, while sixth and eighth graders showed lower proficiency rates. Eighth-grade science was in line with the weaker end of those English scores. A parent will want to look into this further with the school, as the grade-level patterns raise questions about consistency.

Because this is a middle school, there is no graduation rate to report. The school is authorized as a charter school, which means it operates with some autonomy from the local district but must still meet its charter agreement. The district brief turned up no parent-relevant changes in recent years, so the picture here is relatively stable at the organizational level.

The setting is urban St. Louis, an independent city with a diverse economy anchored by major employers like Washington University Medical Center, Barnes-Jewish Hospital, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and several Fortune companies. Civic and cultural anchors are plentiful, including Forest Park, the Saint Louis Zoo, the Science Center, and the Art Museum. The city’s population has seen shifts over time, as it separated from St. Louis County in an earlier period and operates within fixed city boundaries.

Housing values in the area are well below national and state benchmarks, though rents have been rising. This context means families considering this school are likely to find a relatively affordable housing market compared to much of the country, though the city’s economic diversity means neighborhood conditions can vary widely.

For a family evaluating North Side Community-Grand Center, the key considerations are its small size, its charter status, and the mixed academic results that show some grade-level bright spots but also clear soft spots, particularly in math and in the lower proficiency rates for English and science at certain grade levels. The school’s testing data covers only one year, so there is no multi-year trend to examine. A parent will want to talk with the school directly about how those proficiency rates translate into classroom instruction and what student support structures exist, especially given the variability across grades.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 619%

School 19% · District 19%

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 719%

School 19% · District 19%

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 814%

School 14% · District 14%

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 617%

School 17% · District 17%

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

Grade 735%

School 35% · District 35%

even with state median · ▲ 23 pts above county median

Grade 817%

School 17% · District 17%

▼ 23 pts below state median · even with county median

Science

Grade 817%

School 17% · District 17%

▼ 18 pts below state median · even with county median

This schoolNORTH SIDE COMMUNITY SCHOOL, 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.