Higher Ground Academy

Summary:

The Higher Ground Academy district in Minnesota operates three schools: HGA Elementary, HGA Secondary, and HGA Junior High. The district serves a predominantly low-income student population, with free and reduced lunch rates exceeding 97% across all three schools.

HGA Secondary stands out as the highest-performing school in the district, ranking 181 out of 450 Minnesota high schools and earning a 3-star rating from SchoolDigger. The school boasts a relatively high graduation rate of 84.2% and a low dropout rate of 4.4%, while also performing above the state average in MCA-III reading proficiency. In contrast, HGA Elementary and HGA Junior High are both ranked in the bottom half of their respective school types in Minnesota, indicating room for improvement.

Across the district, the schools generally perform below the state average in MCA-III math and reading proficiency, with some exceptions. HGA Elementary stands out for performing above the district and state averages in 4th-grade MCA-III math proficiency. However, the extremely high student-teacher ratio at HGA Junior High (174.5:1) is a significant concern and may negatively impact the quality of education and individual attention students receive.

District Detail

1381 Marshall Ave
Saint Paul, MN 55104-6315

(651) 645-1000

SchoolDigger Rank:
249^th of 446 Minnesota districts

See the 2025 Minnesota District rankings!

Grades served: K-12
Students: 1,163

Primary Schools: 1
Middle Schools: 1
High Schools: 1
Alternative Schools: 0

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				MCA-III Math (2025)								MCA-III Reading (2025)								Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	MCA-III Math 3rd Grade	MCA-III Math 4th Grade	MCA-III Math 5th Grade	MCA-III Math 6th Grade	MCA-III Math 7th Grade	MCA-III Math 8th Grade	MCA-III Math 11th Grade	MCA-III Math All Grades	MCA-III Reading 3rd Grade	MCA-III Reading 4th Grade	MCA-III Reading 5th Grade	MCA-III Reading 6th Grade	MCA-III Reading 7th Grade	MCA-III Reading 8th Grade	MCA-III Reading 10th Grade	MCA-III Reading All Grades	Total
HGA Elementary	Public, Charter	K-5	1381 Marshall Ave	Saint Paul	55104	Ramsey County	Higher Ground Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(651) 645-1000	525	30	17.6	94.3%	30 (5.7%)	491 (93.5%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	43.5	533^rd of 872 public elementary schools	38.9%		35.5	611^th of 881 public elementary schools	30.6%	78	48.2	58.0	38.5					48.3	33.3	36.3	53.9					41.0	$13,537
HGA Secondary	Public, Charter	8-12	1471 Brewster Street	Saint Paul	55108	Ramsey County	Higher Ground Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(651) 369-7555	442	33	13.2	90.7%	16 (3.6%)	420 (95.0%)	1 (0.2%)	5 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	62.7	181^st of 450 public high schools	59.8%		44.1	292^nd of 480 public high schools	39.2%	111						47.1	35.5	41.7						57.5	50.0	53.7	$11,935
HGA Junior High	Public, Charter	6-7	1381 Marshall Ave	Saint Paul	55104	Ramsey County	Higher Ground Academy	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(651) 645-1000	196	3	73.1	93.9%	13 (6.6%)	181 (92.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	37.7	336^th of 519 public middle schools	35.3%		36.4	354^th of 545 public middle schools	35.0%	18				18.9	22.0			20.4				47.8	44.4			46.2

Districts nearby

District	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Saint Paul Public Schools	0.55 mi	89	345^th
High School For Recording Arts	0.57 mi	2	403^rd
Laura Jeffrey Academy Charter	0.66 mi	1	53^rd
Delta Academy of Technology & Innov	0.81 mi	1
The Journey School	1.2 mi	3	435^th

See the top MN Minnesota districts

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Minnesota Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.