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Spero Academy

Public, Charter Grades K-6

795^th

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 872 Minnesota Elementary Schools

Better than 9% of Minnesota elementary schools

Summary

Spero Academy is a public charter elementary school located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, serving 145 students in grades K-6. The school is part of the Spero Academy District, which is ranked 426 out of 446 districts in the state and has a 0-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Spero Academy consistently ranks in the bottom 20% of Minnesota elementary schools, with proficiency rates in Math and Reading that are significantly lower than the state averages, often by 20-30 percentage points. The school's performance is particularly low for specific student subgroups, such as White students and students with low socioeconomic status, where it ranks in the bottom 10-20% of Minnesota elementary schools. However, the school has a very low student-teacher ratio, ranging from 5.5 to 6.0 students per teacher over the past 3 years, and the percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch has increased from 31.47% in 2021-2022 to 42.76% in 2023-2024.

Compared to nearby schools, Spero Academy's academic performance is significantly lower than the nearby Yinghua Academy, which consistently ranks in the top 5% of Minnesota elementary schools and has much higher proficiency rates in Math and Reading. Other nearby public schools, such as Hmong International Elementary, Webster Elementary, and Nellie Stone Johnson Elementary, also outperform Spero Academy academically, despite serving higher percentages of students from low-income families. The school's challenges suggest a need for a closer examination of its instructional practices, resource allocation, and support systems to better serve its diverse student population and improve student outcomes.

148

Students ?

5.2

Student/teacher ratio ?

$57,541

Per pupil spending ?

31.1%

Free/discounted lunch ?

2701 California St. NE
Minneapolis, MN 55418-2606

(612) 465-8600

District: Spero Academy

Racial breakdown:

White:

42.6%

African American:

27.0%

Hispanic:

12.8%

See top rated Minnesota elementary schools

Compare Spero Academy to nearby elementary schools!

At a glance

▼ Ranking trend: Declining — 16th percentile in 2018 → 9th in 2025

Strengths

✓Small classes — about 5 students per teacher

Worth a look

!Test scores below the Minnesota average (16% vs 47% meeting standards)

!In the lower quartile statewide (9th percentile)

!Ranking has slipped — down 7 percentile points since 2018

Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?

This school16%

District avg15%

Minnesota avg47%

795^th of 872

Minnesota public elementary schools ?

Bottom 9%▼ down 7 pts since 2018

From bottom 16% (2018) to bottom 9% (2025)

See the entire ranking list of Minnesota Elementary Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

426^th of 446Spero Academy among Minnesota districts

Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)

Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Minnesota percentile	Rating
2025	9.6	795 of 872	8.8%	☆☆☆☆☆
2024	22.9	709 of 881	19.5%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	14.9	722 of 845	14.6%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	19.9	700 of 858	18.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2021	19.6	709 of 869	18.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	19.6	731 of 870	16.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	19.6	714 of 847	15.7%	★☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Minnesota percentile	Rating
2024	27.5	623 of 793	21.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	25.3	616 of 774	20.4%	★☆☆☆☆

Male

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Minnesota percentile	Rating
2025	10.9	747 of 812	8.0%	☆☆☆☆☆
2024	23.6	664 of 826	19.6%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	16.7	676 of 799	15.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	22.8	657 of 808	18.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2021	23.3	630 of 784	19.6%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	18.4	680 of 798	14.8%	★☆☆☆☆

Special Education

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Minnesota percentile	Rating
2025	25.9	455 of 562	19.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	45.6	315 of 572	44.9%	★★☆☆☆
2023	39.0	336 of 524	35.9%	★★☆☆☆
2022	49.2	251 of 500	49.8%	★★☆☆☆
2021	53.7	181 of 417	56.6%	★★★☆☆
2019	57.9	206 of 515	60.0%	★★★☆☆
2018	55.8	204 of 463	55.9%	★★★☆☆

White

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Minnesota percentile	Rating
2024	8.2	713 of 730	2.3%	☆☆☆☆☆
2023	4.1	705 of 712	1.0%	☆☆☆☆☆
2022	1.2	724 of 725	0.1%	☆☆☆☆☆

How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)

Low Socio Economic Status (2024)21st percentile~ school

Special Education (2025)19th percentile+10 vs school

Male (2025)8th percentile~ school

White (2024)2nd percentile-17 vs school

By subject vs Minnesota (2024-2025) ?

Reading19%-31 vs state

Math13%-32 vs state

5.0

1 rating

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Schools Near Spero Academy

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 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 All Grades	Total
Spero Academy	Public, Charter	K-6	2701 California St. NE	Minneapolis	55418	Hennepin County	Spero Academy	Yes	No	No	No	(612) 465-8600	148	28	5.2	31.1%	63 (42.6%)	40 (27.0%)	19 (12.8%)	13 (8.8%)	2 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (7.4%)	9.6	795^th of 872 public elementary schools	8.8%		22.9	709^th of 881 public elementary schools	19.5%	86	26.3	10.0	0.0	18.8			13.3	36.8	10.0	10.0	18.8			18.7	$57,541
Banaadir Elementary	Public, Charter	K-5	1800 2nd St NE	Minneapolis	55418	Hennepin County	Minnesota Transitions Charter School	Yes	No	No	Yes	(612) 724-4680	149	17	8.7	97.3%	2 (1.3%)	142 (95.3%)	2 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.7%)	2 (1.3%)	4.6	841^st of 872 public elementary schools	3.6%		4.3	851^st of 881 public elementary schools	3.4%	10	13.9	23.5	7.7				15.6	11.1	11.8	11.5				11.5	$15,810
Cityview Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	3350 4th Street North	Minneapolis	55412	Hennepin County	Minneapolis Public School District	No	No	No	Yes	(612) 688-2270	239	24	10.1	90.0%	27 (11.3%)	125 (52.3%)	55 (23.0%)	7 (2.9%)	5 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (8.4%)	3.4	853^rd of 872 public elementary schools	2.2%		2.6	872^nd of 881 public elementary schools	1.0%	19	11.5	14.8	0.0				8.6	16.0	11.1	14.3				13.8	$20,322
New City School	Public, Charter	K-8	1500 6th St NE	Minneapolis	55413	Hennepin County	New City School	Yes	No	No	Yes	(612) 623-3309	351	24	14.8	52.4%	197 (56.1%)	89 (25.4%)	35 (10.0%)	5 (1.4%)	9 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (4.6%)	52.2	454^th of 872 public elementary schools	47.9%		54	443^rd of 881 public elementary schools	49.7%	11	64.4	43.2	31.3	40.4	31.1	17.1	38.0	48.9	41.7	54.2	51.1	50.0	36.6	47.5	$9,904
Las Estrellas Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1201 University Ave NE	Minneapolis	55413	Hennepin County	Minneapolis Public School District	No	No	No	Yes	(612) 668-1130	401	42	9.5	78.6%	60 (15.0%)	22 (5.5%)	305 (76.1%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (2.7%)	5.3	835^th of 872 public elementary schools	4.2%		5.8	832^nd of 881 public elementary schools	5.6%	3	14.8	19.6	0.0				12.4	12.9	23.2	8.9				15.3	$22,850
Nellie Stone Johnson Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	807 27th Ave N	Minneapolis	55411	Hennepin County	Minneapolis Public School District	No	No	No	Yes	(612) 668-2930	304	26	11.6	96.7%	28 (9.2%)	150 (49.3%)	84 (27.6%)	6 (2.0%)	8 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (9.2%)	3	859^th of 872 public elementary schools	1.5%		2.2	877^th of 881 public elementary schools	0.5%	18	7.8	6.3	5.0				6.5	11.8	6.1	22.5				12.9	$20,041
Sojourner Truth Academy	Public, Charter	PK, KG-8	3820 Emerson Ave N	Minneapolis	55412	Hennepin County	Sojourner Truth Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(612) 588-3599	383	23	15.5	91.9%	7 (1.8%)	270 (70.5%)	90 (23.5%)	4 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (3.1%)	2.9	860^th of 872 public elementary schools	1.4%		4.3	850^th of 881 public elementary schools	3.5%	10	14.0	12.2	0.0	2.2	2.2	2.8	5.8	9.3	5.4	6.5	18.6	13.3	13.9	11.5	$17,859
Hmong International Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	1501 30th Ave N	Minneapolis	55411	Hennepin County	Minneapolis Public School District	No	No	No	No	(612) 668-2250	258	27	9.5	92.2%	17 (6.6%)	79 (30.6%)	61 (23.6%)	67 (26.0%)	6 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (10.9%)	3	858^th of 872 public elementary schools	1.6%		1.8	879^th of 881 public elementary schools	0.2%	21	16.3	5.3	2.9				8.7	16.3	5.0	5.9				9.4
Yinghua Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	1616 Buchanan St NE	Minneapolis	55413	Hennepin County	Yinghua Academy	Yes	No	No	Yes	(612) 788-9095	851	63	13.4	16.6%	327 (38.4%)	50 (5.9%)	57 (6.7%)	215 (25.3%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	201 (23.6%)	91.4	33^rd of 872 public elementary schools	96.2%		91.2	31^st of 881 public elementary schools	96.5%	2	87.0	91.1	92.9	79.2	86.5	70.2	84.9	49.0	75.3	82.1	77.8	81.1	77.4	72.8	$10,389
Webster Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	425 5th Street NE	Minneapolis	55413	Hennepin County	Minneapolis Public School District	No	No	No	Yes	(612) 668-1210	276	28	9.7	84.1%	59 (21.4%)	120 (43.5%)	60 (21.7%)	9 (3.3%)	6 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (8.0%)	6.3	822^nd of 872 public elementary schools	5.7%		9.6	794^th of 881 public elementary schools	9.9%	28	13.9	11.1	14.3				13.1	11.1	17.8	26.0				19.1	$14,890

Frequently Asked Questions about Spero Academy

How many students attend Spero Academy?

In the 2024-25 school year, 148 students attended Spero Academy.

Is Spero Academy a good school?

Spero Academy ranks in the bottom 8.8% of Minnesota elementary schools.

What district is Spero Academy in?

Spero Academy

What is the racial makeup of Spero Academy?

Students at Spero Academy are 43% White, 27% African American, 13% Hispanic, 9% Asian, 7% Two or more races, 1% American Indian.

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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.