Summary:
The city of Cass Lake, Minnesota is home to 4 schools serving students from elementary through high school, including 1 elementary school, 1 middle school, and 2 high schools (one of which is an alternative learning center). These schools face significant challenges, including racial disparities, consistently low academic performance, struggles at the alternative high school, and high poverty levels.
Cass Lake-Bena Elementary stands out as the highest-performing school in the district, with a diverse student population, relatively high test scores, and a low student-teacher ratio. In contrast, the Cass Lake-Bena Area Learning Center, the alternative high school, has the lowest test scores, graduation rates, and highest dropout rates among the Cass Lake-Bena schools, though it serves a high-needs population with 86.87% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch.
Across the Cass Lake-Bena Public Schools district, the proficiency rates in math, reading, and science are significantly lower than the state averages, indicating a need for comprehensive, multi-faceted approaches to improve educational outcomes for the students in this community, which has a very high percentage of Native American students and high poverty levels.
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