St. James Public School District

The St. James Public School District in Minnesota contains just two schools serving about 1,068 students: St. James Northside Elementary, a K-5 school with 502 students, and St. James Middle/High School, a combined grades 6-12 school with 566 students — the district has no standalone middle school. Overall, the district ranks 256 of 458 Minnesota districts, placing it at the 44th percentile with 2 stars. Both schools serve majority economically disadvantaged populations, with free or reduced lunch rates of 53.53% at the middle/high school and 58.96% at the elementary.

St. James Northside Elementary is the clearest positive standout. It improved from 1 star to 2 stars, moving from 630 of 872 schools to 494 of 869, and its all-grades math proficiency of 53.0% is above both the district's 42.7% and the state's 44.9%. Third-grade math is a highlight at 65.3% versus 57.9% statewide, and year-over-year gains were substantial: math rose from 42.24% to 53.0%, reading from 34.48% to 41.9%, and science from 6.06% to 18.5%. Weaknesses remain, though: reading proficiency of 41.9% trails the state's 48.6%, science at 18.5% is far below the state's 25.5%, and fourth-grade reading sits at just 31.3% compared with 48.8% statewide.

St. James Middle/High School is the district's biggest concern. Its rank slipped from 254 of 450 to 294 of 473, with its percentile falling from 44 to 38. Its 2024-2025 graduation rate was 69.1% compared with 84.9% statewide, and its dropout rate of 18.5% is more than four times the state's 4.2%. All-grades proficiency trails the state in math (34.7% vs 44.9%), reading (40.6% vs 48.6%), and science (18.6% vs 25.5%), and 11th-grade math is especially low at 19.7% versus 35.3% statewide. There are bright spots: eighth-grade math at 47.4% beats the state's 42.3%, and sixth-grade reading at 50.0% is close to the state's 53.4%.