FIT Academy

FIT Academy is a K–5 charter elementary school at 7200 147th St W in Apple Valley, Minnesota — a south-metro Twin Cities suburb where nearly every neighboring school belongs to a large public district such as Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan or Lakeville Area Schools — and it serves 264 students, making it by far the smallest school in its area.

On 2025–26 state rankings, FIT placed 568th of 869 Minnesota elementary schools — the 35th percentile, or 2 stars. That is genuine progress: in 2018–19 the school sat at the 14th percentile. But the last four years have been flat, and FIT remains below the state average and last among its ten nearby public elementary schools in every tested subject. All-grades proficiency is 42.7% in math, 43.6% in reading and 10.8% in science, against peer averages of 52.9%, 52.8% and 26.7%. For comparison, Oak Hills Elementary posts 66.9% in math and 64.0% in reading, Diamond Path Elementary School Of International Studies 58.1% and 59.3%, and Westview Elementary 53.4% and 46.9%. Science is FIT's widest gap — most neighbors roughly double or triple its rate.

Grade-level results are more encouraging than the school-wide numbers. FIT's 3rd and 4th graders scored at or above the state in reading and close to it in math; most of the drag comes from one small 5th-grade group, where math fell to 21.6%, reading to 29.7% and science to 10.8%. Because FIT has only about 40–45 students per grade, a handful of students can shift a grade-level rate by many points, so single-year swings deserve caution. The school also has the lowest student–teacher ratio in its comparison group (11.7) and a higher poverty rate than most neighbors (42.4% free/reduced lunch). Its special education students earned 3 stars in back-to-back years, and low-income students have held steady near the 43rd–47th percentile — above the school's overall standing.