Summary
First City School is a small alternative public school in Bemidji, MN, serving 48 students in grades 3–12 as part of the Bemidji Public School District. No other schools sit within 20 miles, so the useful comparisons are the district and Minnesota statewide. The district is ranked 287th of 458 in Minnesota (37th percentile, 2-star). First City's students are overwhelmingly from low-income households — free/reduced lunch was 93.75% in 2024–25 — and staffing is unusually rich relative to enrollment, with a student-teacher ratio of 4.8 in 2024–25 (4.2 to 4.8 across recent years). As an alternative school, it likely serves students who are off-track, credit-deficient, or need a nontraditional setting.
Academic proficiency is far below both the district and state. In 2025–26, all-grade math proficiency was 0%, versus 44% for the district and 44.9% for the state. Reading was 18.8% (district 48.8%, state 48.6%), and science 9.4% (district 27.6%, state 25.5%). Eleventh-grade math was also 0%. Math has been the starkest pattern: 0% in all-grade math in every reported year from 2022–23 through 2025–26. Reading has been volatile, reaching 40% in 2022–23 but falling to 27.27%, 6.67%, and 18.8% afterward. Science ranged from 4% to 17.65%. Eighth-grade math, reading, and science for 2025–26 are suppressed by the state, so those results are unknown, not zero.
Graduation rates remain well below district and state, but improved sharply: 27.2% in 2024–25, up from 7.1% in 2023–24 and 0.0% in 2020–21. That 2024–25 figure is still about 53 points below the district and 58 below the state. Dropout rates, however, have been lower than the district's every year — 4.5% in 2024–25, compared with 8.5% district and 4.2% state. With only 48 students, a change of one or two students can swing percentages substantially, so year-to-year comparisons are less stable than at larger schools.
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