Urban Academy

Urban Academy is an elementary school of medium-sized scale in SAINT PAUL, Minnesota, run under Urban Academy, works with 416 students in grades pre-K through 8. Compared to the state average of about 344 students per school, that is 21% larger than typical.

Urban Academy is a school of Urban Academy, the district that handles curriculum, staffing, and budget for the campus.

In terms of who attends, Urban Academy records that nearly all students (86%) are Asian. The remainder consists of 10% Black. That is noticeably more Asian than the county at large, where the share is closer to 15%.

Looking at school resources, Urban Academy reports 34 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 12.2:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 13.7:1 average. About 99% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. Set against Ramsey County (around 57%), the school's rate is meaningfully above typical.

After controlling for student poverty, Urban Academy ranks in the top 10% of Minnesota public schools. The BeatsExpectations model, a per-state regression of composite proficiency on FRL share, predicts schools with this student profile to land around 11.9%; Urban Academy posts 32.9%, +21.0 points above that line.

Zooming out to the county, the surrounding county (Ramsey County) logs that median household income runs about $81,568, roughly 46% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 8%. In all, Ramsey County runs 302 public schools (combined enrollment of about 94,437 students), of which Urban Academy is one.

Nearest neighbor: Highland Park Middle School, around 0.1 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Urban Academy. Among the 7 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Urban Academy ranks 6th on composite proficiency, behind the local average of 47.9%.

Urban Academy operates from a downtown location. Urban Academy is a charter school, which puts it inside the public-school system but outside the standard district-managed model.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count increased 26%: 330 students in 2018 compared to 416 in 2025. Over the same period, the Black share contracted from 23% to 10%. Class-load math has tightened: from 15.0:1 in 2018 to 12.2:1 in 2025.

On the community side, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. Members of the school community can share what they know.