Summary:
ZIP code 55421 contains five elementary-level schools serving about 1,796 students in grades PK through 8, run by three operators: Columbia Heights Public School District (Valley View Elementary and Highland Elementary), Bultum Academy Charter School (Bultum Academy), and Prodeo Academy (Prodeo Columbia Heights Elementary and Prodeo Columbia Heights Primary). It is a high-poverty cluster, with a ZIP-wide free/reduced lunch rate of about 82%, and the two district schools together enroll 1,102 students, roughly 61% of the area's elementary enrollment.
Bultum Academy is the academic standout: it has the best 2025–26 rank in the ZIP (694 of 869, 20th percentile) and the highest all-grade proficiency in all three subjects (math 25.6%, reading 32.7%, science 11.9%). Among the district schools, Highland Elementary edges out Valley View Elementary in math (18.7% vs. 12.7%) and reading (22.2% vs. 18.5%), while Valley View's science score of 8.6% is above Highland's 6.4% and the district average of 6.5%. Valley View is the largest school at 568 students but holds the lowest rank (825 of 869, 5th percentile).
The Prodeo Academy schools combine the highest poverty with the smallest classes: Prodeo Columbia Heights Elementary reports a 90.75% free/reduced lunch rate and a 7.8 student-teacher ratio, with reading at 24.1% but science at only 3.0%. Prodeo Columbia Heights Primary serves PK–1, so it has no current test scores; its older rank history shows 10th–12th percentile performance in 2017–18 and 2018–19. Notably, no tested school in 55421 exceeds Minnesota's all-grade averages in any subject, and Bultum remains the only one with a grade-level score above the state line.
Thank you for your feedback!