Original Research by School Decision on Fargo 9-12 Virtual Academy
Fargo 9-12 Virtual Academy is a regular public high school in the Fargo 1 school district, serving grades nine through twelve through an online delivery model. It is a small school by enrollment, with the bulk of students spread across the upper grades and a comparatively small ninth-grade cohort. The student body is majority white, with representation from American Indian or Alaska Native, Black, and Hispanic students each forming a modest portion, plus small numbers of Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and multiracial students. Free-or-reduced-price lunch counts were not reported, and data on special education and English learner status was not available, so the economic and special-population profile of the school cannot be characterized from what was provided.
State assessment results for the 2024-25 year were reported in English language arts, mathematics, and science, and all three subjects showed the same proficiency rate, which sits low. Only a single year of data was available, so no trend can be described. A parent considering this school may want to look into the testing results further with the school, particularly to understand how the virtual format and student population interact with these outcomes. No graduation rate, course access catalog, staffing figures, attendance data, or discipline records were available, so those dimensions of the school experience cannot be assessed here. Program offerings were not listed, which limits what can be said about academic pathways, dual credit, or career options through the academy. Civil rights data was also absent.
Fargo itself is the regional hub for southeastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota, with an economy rooted in healthcare, higher education, technology, food processing, manufacturing, and retail. Sanford Health and Microsoft have both built regional campuses in the city center, and North Dakota State University is a major presence, extending its footprint into downtown with academic buildings and apartment housing. The Fargo Theatre and Plains Art Museum anchor a historic downtown core, while postwar interstate construction pushed growth south and west, catalyzed by the I-29 and I-94 interchange and the West Acres Shopping Center near it. The city has grown steadily since the 2020 census, and a major flood diversion project is under construction to channel Red River floodwater away from the metro. The area has maintained one of the lowest unemployment rates among U.S. metropolitan areas since the late 1990s. The school's listed address is on 7th Street South, placing it in the city proper, though how the virtual academy uses any physical space is not described in the available data.
Housing in the school's zip code sits below the state benchmark and well below the national benchmark, with a typical home value modest by national standards. Rents are affordable relative to income, and the estimated monthly rent runs meaningfully lower than the estimated monthly mortgage on a typical home, which could matter for families weighing renting versus buying while enrolled. Home values have been rising year over year, as have rents, though both at moderate paces. The district brief did not surface specific parent-relevant changes such as referendums, curriculum shifts, or property-tax adjustments, so nothing on that front can be reported.
This is a small, fully virtual high school option within a larger, economically diverse regional-center district. Its academic results as measured by state testing are low, and much of the contextual data that would help a family evaluate it, from graduation rates to program offerings to special-population metrics, was not available. Families drawn to an online format for scheduling flexibility, health reasons, or personal preference may find the model worth exploring directly with the school, but the publicly reported data here is thin enough that a conversation with Fargo 1 administrators would be the clearest next step.
See more original research from School Decision →