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Teachers: what resource would make the biggest difference at Universal Academy Elementary this year?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
411
Elementary
DISTRICT 257 · STATE 344
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·UNIVERSAL ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL·NCES 270039304758
Universal Academy Elementary
2912 28TH AVE S, MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55406 · (651) 340-5994 · Hennepin County
GRADES PK–06ELEMENTARY11-CITYCHARTERTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL411 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
18.3:1
23 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.5:1 · STATE 13.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
93%
381 students
DISTRICT 89% · 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 | 45 | 11% |
| Kindergarten | 61 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 52 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 54 | 13% |
| Grade 3 | 48 | 12% |
| Grade 4 | 54 | 13% |
| Grade 5 | 54 | 13% |
| Grade 6 | 43 | 10% |
This year's kindergarten class (61) is 42% larger than its 6th grade class (43).
Student demographics
4%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 5% · 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
49.7%
MN avg 49.7%
Math
46.7%
MN avg 45.3%
What this means: On the MCA, Minnesota's statewide test, about 50 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 47 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
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of MN schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
43.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
15.2%
based on MN schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+27.8pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 43% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 15% typical for Minnesota schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 28 points, placing it in Minnesota's top 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 Universal Academy Elementary
Universal Academy Elementary's state test result (43.0% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Universal Academy Elementary this school | 411 | 92.7% | 43.0% |
| New Century School SAINT PAUL | 367 | 92.6% | 20.3% |
| Rochester Math & Science Elementary ROCHESTER | 322 | 93.2% | 28.4% |
| SET Academy Elementary MINNEAPOLIS | 463 | 96.5% | 42.2% |
| Best Academy MINNEAPOLIS | 508 | 92.5% | 20.1% |
| HGA Elementary SAINT PAUL | 525 | 94.3% | 38.6% |
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 Universal Academy Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Minnesota | In Hennepin County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 43.0% | #467 of 844 | #78 of 169 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 46.7% | #489 of 844 | #83 of 169 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 49.7% | #399 of 844 | #73 of 169 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 411 | #458 of 1,130 | #103 of 206 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 18.3:1 | #742 of 769 | #156 of 164 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 4.3% | #784 of 796 | #161 of 165 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 92.7% | #23 of 942 | #10 of 183 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +24.5% | #44 of 244 | #6 of 50 |
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
411
-16 (-4%) vs 2020
Student : Teacher
18.3:1
was 28.5:1
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 | 411 | 22.5 | 18.3:1 | 93% (381) |
| 2023-24 | 423 | 21.1 | 20.0:1 | 82% (347) |
| 2022-23 | 404 | 24.8 | 16.3:1 | 99% (401) |
| 2020-21 | 427 | 15 | 28.5:1 | 79% (337) |
| 2017-18 | 330 | 19 | 17.4:1 | 100% (329) |
| 2015-16 | 256 | 8 | 32.0:1 | 100% (256) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Universal Academy Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students up 25% (330 to 411); teachers up 18% (19 to 22.5).
About Universal Academy Elementary
A medium-sized elementary school in MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota, Universal Academy Elementary is part of Universal Academy Charter School. It educates 411 students in pre-K through 6.
Universal Academy Charter School counts 4 schools and 679 students, including Universal Academy Elementary.
Most students at Universal Academy Elementary are Black: 98% of enrollment. The school's Black share is 84 points above the 13% share among Hennepin County residents. The chance that two students picked at random at Universal Academy Elementary belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 4%.
At Universal Academy Elementary, 22.5 full-time-equivalent teachers work with students, a ratio of about 18.3:1. That ratio is over the 13.7:1 average for elementary schools in Minnesota. Students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch make up 93% of enrollment. The average for public schools in Hennepin County is 43%.
Universal Academy Elementary is a top-10% school in Minnesota on BeatsExpectations, beating its predicted average proficiency rate on state tests of 15.2% with an actual 43.0%.
Hennepin County has these Census figures: median household income is about $97,653, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 54%, and roughly 5% of residents are in poverty. Universal Academy Elementary is among the 496 public schools in Hennepin County.
Universal Academy Middle/High is the nearest neighboring public school, less than a tenth of a mile away. A five-mile radius around the school includes at least 8 other public schools. Nearby schools average 16.5% on proficiency, and Universal Academy Elementary is above that at 43.0%.
The school's locale code, City: Large, means it is inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more. This is a charter school, which is a tuition-free public school operating under a charter.
Universal Academy Elementary saw enrollment fall 4% between 2020-21 and 2024-25. The school's ratio fell from 28.5:1 to 18.3:1 between 2020-21 and 2024-25.
Discussions about Universal Academy Elementary may include sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Hennepin County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
1,269,496
Census ACS
Median income
$97,653
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
54%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
496
177,509 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Universal Academy Charter School
- Universal Academy Middle/HighHigh · 154 students
- Universal Academy South ElementaryElementary · 103 students
- Universal Academy South Middle/HighMiddle · 11 students
Other schools in MINNEAPOLIS
- Washburn HighHigh · 1,521 students
- South HighHigh · 1,257 students
- Southwest HighHigh · 1,195 students
- Roosevelt HighHigh · 1,148 students
- Andersen MiddleMiddle · 1,052 students
- Justice Page MiddleMiddle · 1,020 students
Nearby schools
- Universal Academy Middle/High0.0 mi · 154
- MTS HIGH SCHOOL0.3 mi · 158
- Longfellow Alternative High0.3 mi · 50
- Bdote Learning Center0.4 mi · 65
- Anishinabe Academy Elementary0.4 mi · 183
- Sullivan Elementary0.4 mi · 640
Frequently asked questions
About Universal Academy ElementaryWhat is the total enrollment at Universal Academy Elementary?
Universal Academy Elementary enrolls approximately 411 students in grades PK-06.
Is Universal Academy Elementary an elementary, middle, or high school?
Universal Academy Elementary is an elementary school covering grades PK-06.
How many students per teacher at Universal Academy Elementary?
Approximately 18.3:1 students per teacher at Universal Academy Elementary.
What is the student diversity at Universal Academy Elementary?
Student demographics at Universal Academy Elementary are roughly 1% White, 98% Black, 1% Asian, 1% Two or more.
Is Universal Academy Elementary public or private?
Universal Academy Elementary is a public K-12 school operated as a charter, overseen by Universal Academy Charter School.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.