Achieve Language Academy

Achieve Language Academy is a PK–8 charter school at 2169 Stillwater Ave on Saint Paul's East Side, serving 451 students as its own single-school district. In 2025-2026 it ranks 765th of 869 Minnesota schools — the 12th percentile, 1 star — and 81.15% of its students qualify for free or reduced lunch. That is a steep drop from 2018-2019, when the school sat at the 31st percentile (2 stars); since 2020-2021 it has not risen above the 12th percentile in any year.

Reading is the school's clear relative strength and its only improving measure. At 29.1% proficiency versus 14.2% in math, reading is more than double math, and it has climbed 7.8 points over four years while the state slipped slightly, narrowing the gap every year. Math, by contrast, has been flat near 14% for four years. Among nearby schools that splits the results: Achieve ranks 3rd of 11 in reading but 9th of 11 in math. Sejong Academy Lower School, half a mile away with similar poverty levels, matches Achieve in reading (26.5% vs 29.1%) but posts 41.5% in math. Eastern Heights Elementary, part of Saint Paul Public Schools with almost identical free/reduced-lunch rates, scores nearly the same in reading but roughly double Achieve's math.

The school's poverty rate is lower than six of its ten neighbors, so its results are not simply demographic. Every subgroup the state reports except female students outperforms the schoolwide 12th percentile, including English Language Learners at the 27th percentile; female students, at the 6th percentile, rank lowest and have for three years. Performance also declines in the upper grades. Compared with the other nearby PK–8, Hazel Park Preparatory Academy, Achieve leads at every grade level — though both remain near the bottom statewide.