New Century School

The New Century School district in Minnesota serves five schools — two elementary, one middle, and two high schools — enrolling about 966 students at campuses in Saint Paul and Bloomington, with grades spanning PK through 12. Overall, the district ranks 374th out of 458 in Minnesota, at the 18th percentile with 1 star, and every school serves a high-poverty population, with free or reduced lunch rates ranging from 82.98% to 95.77%.

Compass Academy is the clear bright spot. Its 2025–2026 all-grade proficiency leads the district in both math (42.6%) and reading (41.7%), and it is the only school with a steady upward rank trend — from the 15th percentile to the 26th to the 34th — earning 2 stars. Its 4th grade math and reading each reached 61.3%, above state averages. New Century School Secondary stands out differently: a 100.0% graduation rate versus the state's 84.9%, a 0.0% dropout rate, and 11th grade math at 41.2%, above the state's 35.3%. By contrast, New Century School, Compass Academy Secondary, and NCS Online Program all report math and reading below district averages.

Science is the district-wide weakness: no school reached the state's 25.5%, and the highest was 14.6% at New Century School. Compass Academy Secondary reports both the lowest science score (5.0%) and the highest student–teacher ratio (47 students per teacher), while New Century School Secondary reports 31.5, far above the elementary ratios of 10.8 and 17.5. NCS Online Program, with only 23 students, has the lowest reported math (9.1%) and reading (18.2%), but many of its figures are suppressed and should be treated as unknown. No school exceeded state averages in any all-grade subject, and grade-level results vary widely within each school.