Summary:
Zip code 55104 contains five high schools serving grade spans from 5–12 to 9–12, with a combined enrollment of 2,227 students. The group is not a set of similar comprehensive schools: it mixes one very large traditional high school, several small alternative or continuation-style programs, a charter school, and a teen-parent program, so families should compare missions and grade spans along with the numbers.
Central Senior High is the clear standout and by far the largest school, with 1,682 students — roughly three-quarters of everyone in this list and more than three times the other four schools combined. It has the strongest outcomes here: an 89.9% graduation rate (above the 84.9% state rate) and a 3.3% dropout rate (below the state's 4.2%). Its 2025–26 proficiency is above both the Saint Paul Public Schools district and the state in all three subjects — Math 46.2%, Reading 55.4%, Science 43.2% — and it ranks 60th out of 473 schools (87th percentile, 4 stars), up from the 64th percentile the prior year. Notably, it does this with the highest student/teacher ratio in the group, 26.2.
The other four schools have much higher free/reduced-lunch rates (about 77% to 92%, versus 39.83% at Central) and weaker reported results. High School For Recording Arts reports 0% Math and 9.1% Reading, a 34.2% graduation rate, the group's highest dropout rate at 8.5%, and a rank of 455/473 (4th percentile). Career Pathways reports 3.7% Math, 14.3% Reading, and 4.8% Science, with a 51.7% graduation rate. Gordon Parks High School shows an unusual combination: a 32.3% graduation rate but only a 3.9% dropout rate. A. G. A. P. E. Teen Parent is tiny, at 26 students with a 4.6 student/teacher ratio; its 2023–24 figures showed a 66.6% graduation rate and 25.0% dropout rate. Many current test scores for these schools are suppressed by the state to protect privacy, so they are unknown rather than evidence of weakness.
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