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What's the best and worst thing about the food at Highland Elementary?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
534
Elementary
DISTRICT 402 · STATE 344
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·COLUMBIA HEIGHTS PUBLIC SCHOOL DIST·NCES 270951000398
Highland Elementary
1500 49TH AVE NE, COLUMBIA HEIGHTS, MN 55421 · (763) 528-4405 · Anoka County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL534 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
15.7:1
34 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.1:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
78%
418 students
DISTRICT 75% · STATE 48%
Community
5
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 57 | 11% |
| Kindergarten | 72 | 13% |
| Grade 1 | 74 | 14% |
| Grade 2 | 90 | 17% |
| Grade 3 | 83 | 16% |
| Grade 4 | 85 | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 73 | 14% |
Student demographics
66%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 64% · STATE 60% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
MCA 2024-25 . % Meets or Exceeds StandardsEnglish Language Arts
21.0%
MN avg 49.7%
Math
17.7%
MN avg 45.3%
What this means: On the MCA, Minnesota's statewide test, about 21 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 18 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Minnesota schools, those numbers are about 50 and 45.
Source: MCA. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
17.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
23.0%
based on MN schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-5.1pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 18% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 23% typical for Minnesota schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Minnesota's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Where Highland Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Minnesota | In Anoka County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 17.9% | #774 of 844 | #43 of 45 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 17.7% | #769 of 844 | #43 of 45 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 21.0% | #776 of 844 | #41 of 45 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 534 | #242 of 1,130 | #23 of 56 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.7:1 | #609 of 769 | #32 of 46 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 65.7% | #205 of 796 | #18 of 47 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 78.3% | #111 of 942 | #7 of 50 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -9.3% | #336 of 499 | #20 of 27 |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
534
+11 (+2%) vs 2020
-4% since 1990-91, when it was 558
Student : Teacher
15.7:1
was 14.9:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 534 | 34.1 | 15.7:1 | 78% (418) |
| 2023-24 | 512 | 32.3 | 15.8:1 | 81% (413) |
| 2022-23 | 512 | 31.1 | 16.5:1 | 85% (434) |
| 2020-21 | 523 | 35 | 14.9:1 | 72% (375) |
| 2017-18 | 589 | 39.1 | 15.1:1 | 79% (467) |
| 2015-16 | 519 | 41 | 12.7:1 | 80% (414) |
| 2010-11 | 467 | 35 | 13.3:1 | 81% (377) |
| 2000-01 | 511 | 29 | 17.6:1 | 42% (213) |
| 1990-91 | 558 | 28 | 19.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Highland Elementary.
About Highland Elementary
Families in COLUMBIA HEIGHTS, Minnesota, are served by Highland Elementary, a high-enrollment elementary school. Its grade span covers pre-K through 5, with 534 students on the rolls. Across elementary schools in Minnesota, the average enrollment is about 344.
Columbia Heights Public School Dist is made up of 10 schools with 3,516 students in all.
The student body at Highland Elementary is 51% Hispanic. Other reported shares: 23% Black, 15% White, 5% multiracial, and 5% Asian. Anoka County's residents are about 6% Hispanic, 45 points below the school's share. A diversity index of 66% means there is a 66% chance two randomly chosen students at Highland Elementary are from different groups.
The student-to-teacher ratio is 15.7:1. The school has 34.1 full-time-equivalent teachers. The school's 15.7:1 compares with an average of 13.7:1 for elementary schools in Minnesota. Federal data show 78% of students (418) are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The 42% average for public schools in Anoka County is 36 points lower.
Highland Elementary is 5.1 points below its predicted average proficiency rate across its state test results (17.9% versus 23.0%), which places it in neither the top nor the bottom 10% in Minnesota.
Census data for Anoka County show median household income comes to about $101,869, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 32%, and roughly 5% of residents are in poverty. There are 145 public schools in the county, enrolling about 59,656, Highland Elementary among them.
Virtual Heights Secondary is the nearest public school to Highland Elementary, less than a tenth of a mile away. Counting only straight-line distance, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. In a group of 4 nearby schools with scores, Highland Elementary ranks 3rd on average proficiency.
The National Center for Education Statistics classifies the school's location as Suburb: Large, meaning it is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Federal data show 523 students in 2020-21 and 534 in 2024-25, a difference of under 3%.
This page is set up for the Highland Elementary community to discuss open houses, carpools, and field trips. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Anoka County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
370,349
Census ACS
Median income
$101,869
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
32%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
145
59,656 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Columbia Heights Public School Dist
- Columbia Heights Senior HighHigh · 1,141 students
- Columbia AcademyMiddle · 719 students
- Valley View ElementaryElementary · 568 students
- North Park School for InnovationElementary · 433 students
- Early ChildhoodElementary · 74 students
- Virtual Heights SecondaryHigh · 19 students
Other schools in COLUMBIA HEIGHTS
- Columbia Heights Senior HighHigh · 1,141 students
- Columbia AcademyMiddle · 719 students
- Valley View ElementaryElementary · 568 students
- Prodeo Columbia Heights MiddleMiddle · 291 students
- Bultum AcademyElementary · 249 students
- Prodeo Columbia Heights ElementaryElementary · 227 students
Nearby schools
- Virtual Heights Secondary0.0 mi · 19
- Early Childhood0.0 mi · 74
- Columbia Heights Transition Program0.1 mi · 11
- Anchor0.1 mi · 11
- Columbia Heights Senior High0.1 mi · 1,141
- Columbia Academy Anchor Program0.6 mi · 6
Frequently asked questions
About Highland ElementaryWhat is the total enrollment at Highland Elementary?
Highland Elementary enrolls approximately 534 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does Highland Elementary serve?
Highland Elementary serves grades PK-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Highland Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Highland Elementary is approximately 15.7:1 (34 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Highland Elementary?
At Highland Elementary, the student body is approximately 15% White, 51% Hispanic, 23% Black, 5% Asian, 5% Two or more.
Is Highland Elementary public or private?
Highland Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by Columbia Heights Public School Dist.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.