Olson Middle

Summary:

Olson Middle is a public middle school in Minneapolis, Minnesota, serving 361 students in grades 6-8. The school's student population is predominantly African American (53.19%), with significant percentages of Asian (11.63%), White (12.47%), and Hispanic (9.14%) students.

Academically, Olson Middle consistently ranks in the bottom 10-15% of Minnesota middle schools, with proficiency rates on state assessments that are significantly below the state and district averages. For example, in the 2023-2024 school year, only 4.41% of Olson Middle students were proficient or better in Math, compared to 45.47% statewide and 34.66% in the Minneapolis Public School District. The school's performance is particularly low for certain student subgroups, such as White, Hispanic, and Multi-racial students. However, the school's English Language Learner and Special Education student subgroups perform relatively better, ranking in the top 30-40% of Minnesota middle schools. Olson Middle also has a high percentage of students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds, with 86.15% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch.

Compared to nearby schools, such as Columbia Academy, Robbinsdale Middle, and The FAIR School - Crystal, Olson Middle's academic performance lags behind, with lower proficiency rates and statewide rankings. These nearby schools serve more diverse student populations, but they also struggle to match the state and district averages, indicating broader challenges facing middle schools in the Minneapolis metropolitan area. Additionally, Olson Middle has a relatively high percentage of homeless students, ranking in the top 30% of Minnesota middle schools for this subgroup, which may contribute to the school's academic challenges.


Detail:

Public 6-8

 1607 51st Ave N
       Minneapolis, MN  55430-8888


(612) 668-1640

District: Minneapolis Public School District

SchoolDigger Rank:
526th of 545 Minnesota Middle Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures:  $16,762 Help


Students who attend Olson Middle usually attend:

High:    Henry High

Feeder schools for Olson Middle:

Elementary:    Cityview Elementary
    Jenny Lind Elementary
    Loring Elementary
    Lucy Laney Elementary

Student/teacher ratio:  14.9 Help
Number of students:  361

Racial breakdown:

African American:
53.2%
White:
12.5%
Asian:
11.6%
more

Free/discounted lunch recipients:  86.1% Help


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Performance Trends
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Compare Details Olson Middle ranks worse than 96.5% of middle schools in Minnesota. It also ranks last among 7 ranked middle schools in the Minneapolis Public School District. (See more...)
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Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 5.8. (See more...)
Student Body
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Compare Details Racial makeup is: African American (53.2%), White (12.5%), Asian (11.6%). (See more...)
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Compare Details 86.1% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)
Teachers
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Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Olson Middle is 14.9, which is the 2nd best among 7 middle schools in the Minneapolis Public School District. (See more...)
Help
Compare Olson Middle employs 24 full-time teachers.
Finance
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Compare Details The average total spent per student at Olson Middle is $16,762, which is the 3rd highest among 7 middle schools in the Minneapolis Public School District.
Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Olson Middle:

SchoolDigger ranks Olson Middle 526th of 545 Minnesota public middle schools. (See Olson Middle in the ranking list.)

Middle School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:


English Language Learner students:
Special Education students:
Low Socio Economic Status students:
Homeless students:
Female students:
Male students:
Asian students:
African American students:
Hispanic students:
White students:


Minneapolis Public School District:

SchoolDigger ranks Minneapolis Public School District 322nd of 463 Minnesota school districts. (See district ranking list.)


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Rank History for Olson Middle

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Compare

Rank History for all students at Olson Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools MN State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2004 1.41 370th 387 4.4%
2005 4.66 377th 396 4.8%
2006 9.91 378th 406 6.9%
2007 10.33 377th 403 6.5%
2008 3.92 394th 409 3.7%
2009 5.04 216th 230 6.1%
2010 5.10 430th 454 5.3%
2011 4.64 448th 478 6.3%
2012 4.42 444th 469 5.3%
2013 4.55 462nd 488 5.3%
2014 4.10 463rd 490 5.5%
2015 4.14 491st 516 4.8%
2016 3.45 485th 508 4.5%
2017 3.54 498th 523 4.8%
2018 4.23 490th 518 5.4%
2019 9.10 485th 533 9.0%
2021 8.78 485th 521 6.9%
2022 7.86 487th 520 6.3%
2023 9.47 491st 529 7.2%
2024 5.80 526th 545 3.5%
See the entire list of Minnesota Middle School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at Olson Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools MN State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2022 6.33 129th 131 1.5%
See the entire list of Best Minnesota Middle Schools for Multi-racial Students!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Olson Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools MN State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 27.99 90th 109 17.4%
2019 78.41 7th 120 94.2%
2022 43.53 61st 130 53.1%
2023 55.34 31st 133 76.7%
2024 40.69 82nd 158 48.1%
See the entire list of Best Minnesota Middle Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at Olson Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools MN State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 12.37 242nd 253 4.3%
2019 62.82 92nd 282 67.4%
2021 48.21 126th 260 51.5%
2022 20.81 246th 288 14.6%
2023 50.22 137th 298 54.0%
2024 53.03 124th 307 59.6%
See the entire list of Best Minnesota Middle Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Olson Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools MN State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 7.63 381st 401 5.0%
2019 11.96 388th 415 6.5%
2021 16.83 367th 399 8.0%
2022 13.03 380th 404 5.9%
2023 15.80 416th 459 9.4%
2024 9.74 450th 473 4.9%
See the entire list of Best Minnesota Middle Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Homeless students at Olson Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools MN State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 46.55 13th 25 48.0%
2022 48.88 6th 15 60.0%
2023 37.85 16th 20 20.0%
2024 22.66 26th 30 13.3%
See the entire list of Best Minnesota Middle Schools for Homeless Students!

Rank History for Female students at Olson Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools MN State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 3.22 424th 436 2.8%
2019 6.09 419th 439 4.6%
2021 8.44 420th 443 5.2%
2022 8.00 441st 467 5.6%
2023 8.30 429th 455 5.7%
2024 6.21 455th 474 4.0%
See the entire list of Best Minnesota Middle Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Male students at Olson Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools MN State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 4.09 420th 438 4.1%
2019 10.49 413th 454 9.0%
2021 8.27 415th 437 5.0%
2022 7.21 452nd 476 5.0%
2023 9.56 432nd 464 6.9%
2024 4.34 469th 479 2.1%
See the entire list of Best Minnesota Middle Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for Asian students at Olson Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools MN State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 4.87 106th 108 1.9%
2019 18.34 92nd 112 17.9%
2022 16.55 97th 110 11.8%
2023 17.70 93rd 116 19.8%
2024 9.71 107th 111 3.6%
See the entire list of Best Minnesota Middle Schools for Asian Students!

Rank History for African American students at Olson Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools MN State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 13.79 130th 137 5.1%
2019 23.71 116th 148 21.6%
2021 18.60 123rd 141 12.8%
2022 17.76 149th 162 8.0%
2023 22.16 136th 164 17.1%
2024 17.10 158th 179 11.7%
See the entire list of Best Minnesota Middle Schools for African American Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Olson Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools MN State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2019 21.63 152nd 171 11.1%
2022 18.97 174th 188 7.4%
2023 26.14 146th 178 18.0%
2024 11.42 180th 186 3.2%
See the entire list of Best Minnesota Middle Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for White students at Olson Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools MN State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 31.55 331st 428 22.7%
2019 59.66 164th 428 61.7%
2021 52.64 179th 422 57.6%
2022 23.36 365th 438 16.7%
2023 5.30 428th 436 1.8%
2024 2.50 434th 440 1.4%
See the entire list of Best Minnesota Middle Schools for White Students!

Data source: test scores: Minnesota Department of Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Olson Middle Test Scores
Tests: 
  
Grades: 
  
Years: 
  
Group by: 
District Scores:
State Scores:    
  
Subgroup: 






Data source: Minnesota Department of Education

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Enrollment information for Olson Middle

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Compare
Year White African American Asian Hispanic American Indian Pacific Islander Two or More Races Not Specified Total
1995 164 179 110 7 16 n/a n/a 0 476
1996 164 179 110 7 16 n/a n/a 0 476
1997 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 0
1998 184 267 229 11 17 n/a n/a 0 708
1999 188 258 235 11 18 n/a n/a 0 710
2000 180 263 247 9 17 n/a n/a 0 716
2001 156 264 261 5 16 n/a n/a 0 702
2002 101 328 229 11 16 n/a n/a 0 685
2003 101 328 229 11 16 n/a n/a 0 685
2004 100 329 182 17 22 n/a n/a 0 650
2005 73 333 150 10 18 n/a n/a 0 584
2006 61 230 112 10 5 n/a n/a 0 418
2007 60 219 91 19 13 n/a n/a 0 402
2008 40 277 83 21 8 n/a n/a 0 429
2009 33 248 67 14 7 n/a n/a 0 369
2010 28 226 68 12 6 n/a n/a 0 340
2011 27 219 74 10 6 0 0 0 336
2012 31 220 68 10 15 0 3 0 347
2013 27 220 53 7 12 0 1 0 320
2014 27 239 48 13 9 0 1 0 337
2015 18 187 40 15 10 0 1 0 271
2016 19 207 33 17 13 0 2 0 291
2017 32 220 33 29 15 0 3 0 332
2018 40 233 36 31 10 0 11 0 361
2019 46 240 33 47 9 0 12 0 387
2020 48 231 36 37 5 0 17 0 374
2021 47 246 29 37 6 1 24 0 390
2022 50 269 52 48 10 1 35 0 465
2023 45 192 42 33 14 1 34 0 361

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Olson Middle

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1995 476 0.0 0.0 62.4
1996 476 0.0 0.0 62.4
1997 0 n/a 0.0 n/a
1998 708 n/a 0.0 68.5
1999 710 58.9 12.1 66.5
2000 716 51.7 13.8 76.5
2001 702 45.4 15.5 77.8
2002 685 46.0 14.9 81.2
2003 685 46.0 14.9 81.2
2004 650 43.7 14.9 82.2
2005 584 34.2 17.1 87.2
2006 418 31.4 13.3 85.6
2007 402 24.0 16.8 83.8
2008 429 28.7 14.9 83.4
2009 369 25.6 14.4 84.3
2010 340 30.3 11.2 91.2
2011 336 25.7 13.0 92.6
2012 347 26.9 12.8 93.9
2013 320 28.0 11.4 92.8
2014 337 25.2 13.3 93.8
2015 271 26.0 10.4 93.4
2016 291 26.0 11.1 94.5
2017 332 25.3 13.0 88.9
2018 361 26.1 13.8 87.5
2019 387 26.0 14.8 81.4
2020 374 27.7 13.4 76.5
2021 390 18.5 21.0 73.1
2022 465 44.1 10.5 70.8
2023 361 24.0 14.9 86.1

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio Olson Middle

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1995 476 0.0 0.0 62.4
1996 476 0.0 0.0 62.4
1997 0 n/a 0.0 n/a
1998 708 n/a 0.0 68.5
1999 710 58.9 12.1 66.5
2000 716 51.7 13.8 76.5
2001 702 45.4 15.5 77.8
2002 685 46.0 14.9 81.2
2003 685 46.0 14.9 81.2
2004 650 43.7 14.9 82.2
2005 584 34.2 17.1 87.2
2006 418 31.4 13.3 85.6
2007 402 24.0 16.8 83.8
2008 429 28.7 14.9 83.4
2009 369 25.6 14.4 84.3
2010 340 30.3 11.2 91.2
2011 336 25.7 13.0 92.6
2012 347 26.9 12.8 93.9
2013 320 28.0 11.4 92.8
2014 337 25.2 13.3 93.8
2015 271 26.0 10.4 93.4
2016 291 26.0 11.1 94.5
2017 332 25.3 13.0 88.9
2018 361 26.1 13.8 87.5
2019 387 26.0 14.8 81.4
2020 374 27.7 13.4 76.5
2021 390 18.5 21.0 73.1
2022 465 44.1 10.5 70.8
2023 361 24.0 14.9 86.1

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.
Finances

Per Pupil Expenditures for Olson Middle

Help

YearTotal Expenditures Per Pupil
2019 $16,762

Data source: Minnesota Department of Education
Pre and Post Pandemic Data

Impact of COVID-19 on Olson Middle

The coronavirus has had a profound impact on education in America. Learning shifted online overnight, attendance numbers dwindled, and enrollment decreased. SchoolDigger.com is making it easier for you to better assess how COVID-19 has impacted your school. Through the collection of pre-pandemic (2019) and current data, SchoolDigger.com is sharing test scores, enrollment numbers and school demographics from schools across the country – and we make it easy to see how impacted schools compare locally and statewide.

Rankings

Rank
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Rank
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Ranks 485th of 533 Middle schoolsRanks 491st of 529 Middle schools
 1.8%

Test Scores

% proficient
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
% proficient
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
6th Grade Math (Olson Middle)17.98
 9.9%
   6th Grade Math (Minneapolis Public School District)3730.7
 6.2%
   6th Grade Math (Minnesota)50.539.7
 10.8%
6th Grade Reading (Olson Middle)32.217.7
 14.5%
   6th Grade Reading (Minneapolis Public School District)48.341.1
 7.2%
   6th Grade Reading (Minnesota)62.853.4
 9.4%
7th Grade Math (Olson Middle)14.74.9
 9.8%
   7th Grade Math (Minneapolis Public School District)40.329.2
 11.1%
   7th Grade Math (Minnesota)52.139.7
 12.4%
7th Grade Reading (Olson Middle)28.721.2
 7.6%
   7th Grade Reading (Minneapolis Public School District)46.636.3
 10.3%
   7th Grade Reading (Minnesota)57.545.2
 12.3%
8th Grade Math (Olson Middle)20.86.9
 14%
   8th Grade Math (Minneapolis Public School District)41.129.8
 11.4%
   8th Grade Math (Minnesota)55.240.3
 14.9%
8th Grade Reading (Olson Middle)33.125
 8%
   8th Grade Reading (Minneapolis Public School District)45.336.6
 8.8%
   8th Grade Reading (Minnesota)57.744.8
 12.9%
8th Grade Science (Olson Middle)19.16.2
 12.9%
   8th Grade Science (Minneapolis Public School District)33.223.8
 9.4%
   8th Grade Science (Minnesota)4327.6
 15.4%

Student Body

Number of students
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Number of students
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Total Students387361
 6.7%
African American240192
 20%
American Indian914
 55.6%
Asian3342
 27.3%
Hispanic4733
 29.8%
Pacific Islander01
White4645
 2.2%
Two or More Races1234
 183.3%
% Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients81.4%86.1%
 4.8%


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Frequently Asked Questions about Olson Middle

Students at Olson Middle are 53% African American, 12% White, 12% Asian, 9% Two or more races, 9% Hispanic, 4% American Indian.

Olson Middle ranks in the bottom 3.5% of Minnesota middle schools.

In the 2022-23 school year, 361 students attended Olson Middle.

Students who attend Olson Middle usually go on to attend Henry High


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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Minnesota Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.





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