The Rich History of St. Joseph Catholic STEM School

The Rich History of

St. Joseph Catholic STEM School

 

St. Joseph Catholic School was built on the backs of Minnesota’s first citizens.  The school first opened in the fall of 1860, just two years after Minnesota became a state and just a few months prior to Abraham Lincoln’s inauguration as the 16th president of the United States.  This community has supported Catholic education for nearly 160 years and it has responded to the needs of the parishioners in this town repeatedly.  Not even a devastating cyclone that hit the town in 1904 could keep St. Joseph School down.  In 1908, the third school was built and it stood on this block for nearly 100 years.  In 2002, the current building opened and the school was nearly full to capacity.  The financial crisis of 2007-08 caused some steep enrollment decline, but that decline has ceased and now the school is showing great signs of promise on the enrollment front.  The 2017-18 Kindergarten class is the largest new class in several years and the 2018-19 class is almost full as of mid-March.  If current enrollment trends continue, the 2018-19 enrollment will show a 5-10% increase.

 

The academic progress of the students at the school has been increasing steadily over the past few years. Our C-STEM curriculum has launched a new style of learning that is positively impacting both reading and math results at a very high level.  The chart below shows the average percentile rank of St. Joseph 8th graders over the past 5-years.  This data is based on the NWEA MAP test, a nationally normed assessment test.  Statistically speaking, the average percentile rank should be the 50th percentile.  Our students are soaring high!

Average Percentile rank of St. Joseph 8th graders

*2018 results are mid-year results; all previous years are end of year results.

 

Average 8th grade Reading

Percentile Rank

Average 8th grade Math

Percentile Rank

2014 73% 69%
2015 70% 75%
2016 76% 79%
2017 81% 90%
2018 *79% *90%
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