1
What's the most underrated thing about Kaposia Education Center Elementary that outsiders don't know?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
620
Elementary
DISTRICT 453 · STATE 344
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·SOUTH ST. PAUL PUBLIC SCHOOL DIST·NCES 273327001457
Kaposia Education Center Elementary
1225 1ST AVE S, SOUTH SAINT PAUL, MN 55075 · (651) 451-9260 · Dakota County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL620 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 46% of Minnesota public elementary schools
- CTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- B+Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Minnesota public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
12.0:1
52 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.5:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
70%
435 students
DISTRICT 66% · 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 | 79 | 13% |
| Kindergarten | 106 | 17% |
| Grade 1 | 75 | 12% |
| Grade 2 | 95 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 83 | 13% |
| Grade 4 | 93 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 89 | 14% |
This year's kindergarten class (106) is 19% larger than its 5th grade class (89).
Student demographics
69%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 67% · 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
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Based on grade levels within South St. Paul Public School Dist. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
MCA 2024-25 . % Meets or Exceeds StandardsEnglish Language Arts
40.5%
MN avg 49.7%
Math
38.5%
MN avg 45.3%
What this means: On the MCA, Minnesota's statewide test, about 40 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 39 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
35.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
27.4%
based on MN schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+7.7pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 35% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 27% 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 →
Schools most like Kaposia Education Center Elementary
Kaposia Education Center Elementary's state test result (35.0% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kaposia Education Center Elementary this school | 620 | 70.2% | 35.0% |
| Kennedy Elementary WILLMAR | 672 | 68.5% | 28.9% |
| ROOSEVELT ELEMENTARY FARIBAULT | 473 | 72.9% | 32.2% |
| Roosevelt Elementary WILLMAR | 580 | 64.5% | 36.9% |
| Lakeland Elementary School WILLMAR | 623 | 72.2% | 22.5% |
| MORELAND ART/HEALTH SCIENCE MAGNET WEST SAINT PAUL | 369 | 64.5% | 43.1% |
Matched among Minnesota elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Kaposia Education Center Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Minnesota | In Dakota County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 35.0% | #605 of 844 | #52 of 60 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 38.5% | #601 of 844 | #51 of 60 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 40.5% | #573 of 844 | #52 of 60 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 620 | #145 of 1,130 | #17 of 73 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.0:1 | #186 of 769 | #8 of 58 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 68.6% | #157 of 796 | #17 of 59 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 70.2% | #156 of 942 | #5 of 66 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -23.5% | #109 of 499 | #6 of 36 |
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. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
620
-56 (-8%) vs 2020
+38% since 1990-91, when it was 450
Student : Teacher
12.0:1
was 14.1:1
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 | 620 | 51.5 | 12.0:1 | 70% (435) |
| 2023-24 | 636 | 44.5 | 14.3:1 | 64% (408) |
| 2022-23 | 655 | 47.4 | 13.8:1 | 71% (465) |
| 2020-21 | 676 | 48 | 14.1:1 | 60% (407) |
| 2017-18 | 810 | 58 | 14.0:1 | 62% (503) |
| 2015-16 | 762 | 52 | 14.7:1 | 61% (464) |
| 2010-11 | 792 | 45 | 17.6:1 | 56% (443) |
| 2000-01 | 894 | 47 | 19.0:1 | 32% (286) |
| 1990-91 | 450 | 21 | 21.4:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Kaposia Education Center Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 23% (810 to 620); teachers down 11% (58 to 51.5).
About Kaposia Education Center Elementary
Kaposia Education Center Elementary is a high-enrollment elementary school serving families in SOUTH SAINT PAUL, Minnesota. The latest federal count shows 620 students in pre-K through 5. Against the 344-student average for elementary schools in Minnesota, enrollment here is 80% higher.
South St. Paul Public School Dist enrolls 2,861 students, and its 7 schools include Kaposia Education Center Elementary.
Kaposia Education Center Elementary's enrollment has no majority group, and Hispanic students are the largest at 40%. Other reported shares: 37% White, 10% multiracial, 8% Black, and 5% Asian. Dakota County's residents are about 9% Hispanic, 31 points below the school's share. Kaposia Education Center Elementary has a diversity index of 69%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
The school has about 12.0 students per teacher and 51.5 full-time-equivalent teachers. That ratio is under the 13.7:1 average for elementary schools in Minnesota. Federal records put free or reduced-price lunch eligibility at 70%. Public schools in Dakota County average 34%.
Measured against Minnesota public elementary schools, Kaposia Education Center Elementary receives a B-. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
The school's average proficiency rate on state tests is 35.0%. For its free or reduced-price lunch share, the predicted value is 27.4%.
According to the American Community Survey, in Dakota County, median household income is about $106,318, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 45%, and about 4% of people live in poverty. A total of 170 public schools operate in Dakota County, serving about 74,687 students.
The next-closest public school is IGH EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAM, about 1.3 miles away. There are at least 8 more public schools inside five miles. Nearby schools average 29.2% on proficiency, and Kaposia Education Center Elementary is above that at 35.0%.
The school's locale code, Suburb: Large, means it is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
The number of students dropped from 676 to 620 over 4 years. The school's ratio fell from 14.1:1 to 12.0:1 between 2020-21 and 2024-25.
If you have questions about sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week at Kaposia Education Center Elementary, you can post them here. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
Dakota County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
445,771
Census ACS
Median income
$106,318
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
45%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
4%
Below federal line
Schools in county
170
74,687 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in South St. Paul Public School Dist
- South St. Paul High SchoolHigh · 866 students
- Lincoln Center ElementaryElementary · 670 students
- South St. Paul Middle SchoolMiddle · 535 students
- S St. Paul Community Lrng. Cntr.High · 99 students
- Early Childhood Special Ed ProgramElementary · 68 students
- SSP VirtualHigh · 3 students
Other schools in SOUTH SAINT PAUL
- South St. Paul High SchoolHigh · 866 students
- Lincoln Center ElementaryElementary · 670 students
- South St. Paul Middle SchoolMiddle · 535 students
- S St. Paul Community Lrng. Cntr.High · 99 students
- Early Childhood Special Ed ProgramElementary · 68 students
- 917 Deaf/Hard of HearingCombined · 29 students
Nearby schools
- IGH EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAM1.3 mi · 68
- HILLTOP ELEMENTARY1.3 mi · 626
- STEAM Academy Charter School1.3 mi · 77
- Discovery Charter Elementary School1.3 mi · 166
- Early Childhood Special Ed Program1.4 mi · 68
- NEWPORT ELEMENTARY1.6 mi · 264
Frequently asked questions
About Kaposia Education Center ElementaryHow large is Kaposia Education Center Elementary?
Kaposia Education Center Elementary enrolls approximately 620 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does Kaposia Education Center Elementary serve?
Kaposia Education Center Elementary serves grades PK-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Kaposia Education Center Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Kaposia Education Center Elementary is approximately 12.0:1 (52 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Kaposia Education Center Elementary?
At Kaposia Education Center Elementary, the student body is approximately 37% White, 40% Hispanic, 8% Black, 5% Asian, 10% Two or more.
Is Kaposia Education Center Elementary public or private?
Kaposia Education Center Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by South St. Paul Public School Dist.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.