Discovery Community Elementary

Summary:

Discovery Community Elementary is a public elementary school located in Waite Park, Minnesota, serving grades PK-5 with a student population of 483. The school is part of the St. Cloud Public School District, which is ranked 349 out of 463 districts in Minnesota and has a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Discovery Community Elementary faces significant challenges, with a student population that is predominantly African American (51.97%) and Hispanic (19.67%), and an extremely high percentage (over 85%) of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a high level of economic disadvantage. The school consistently ranks in the bottom quartile of Minnesota elementary schools, with academic performance on MCA-III assessments significantly below the state and district averages across all grades and subjects. In comparison, nearby schools like Talahi Community Elementary and Madison Elementary have higher academic performance and lower percentages of economically disadvantaged students.

Despite the school's struggles, Discovery Community Elementary has a relatively low student-teacher ratio, ranging from 11.5 to 14.3 over the past 3 years, which is lower than the surrounding schools. This could be an opportunity to implement targeted interventions and personalized learning strategies to support student growth and achievement. However, addressing the persistent achievement gaps between the school's African American and Hispanic students and their peers at the state level will require a comprehensive, data-driven approach that considers the unique needs and circumstances of the school and its community.


Detail:

Public PK, KG-5

 700 7th St S
       Waite Park, MN  56387-1512


(320) 370-6180

District: St. Cloud Public School District

SchoolDigger Rank:
803rd of 881 Minnesota Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures:  $14,592 Help


Students who attend Discovery Community Elementary usually attend:

Middle:    South Junior High
High:    Technical Senior High

Student/teacher ratio:  12.3 Help
Number of students:  540

Racial breakdown:

African American:
47.0%
Hispanic:
23.5%
White:
20.4%
more

Free/discounted lunch recipients:  84.8% Help


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 Compare Discovery Community Elementary to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends
Help
Compare Details Discovery Community Elementary ranks worse than 91.1% of elementary schools in Minnesota. It also ranks last among 7 ranked elementary schools in the St. Cloud Public School District. (See more...)
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Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 8.63. (See more...)
Student Body
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Compare Details Student population at Discovery Community Elementary is diverse. Racial makeup is: African American (47%), Hispanic (23.5%), White (20.4%). (See more...)
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Compare Details 84.8% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)
Teachers
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Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Discovery Community Elementary is 12.3. 4 elementary schools in the St. Cloud Public School District have better student/teacher ratios. (See more...)
Help
Compare Discovery Community Elementary employs 43.5 full-time teachers.
Finance
Help
Compare Details The average total spent per student at Discovery Community Elementary is $14,592. 4 elementary schools in the St. Cloud Public School District spend more per student.
Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Discovery Community Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks Discovery Community Elementary 803rd of 881 Minnesota public elementary schools. (See Discovery Community Elementary in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:


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


St. Cloud Public School District:

SchoolDigger ranks St. Cloud Public School District 349th of 463 Minnesota school districts. (See district ranking list.)


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Rank History for Discovery Community Elementary

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Rank History for all students at Discovery Community Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools MN State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2003 51.78 397th 674 41.1%
2004 29.81 557th 676 17.6%
2005 19.63 606th 685 11.5%
2006 23.88 667th 756 11.8%
2007 16.83 701st 777 9.8%
2008 12.73 718th 781 8.1%
2010 25.00 688th 803 14.3%
2011 20.85 714th 814 12.3%
2012 23.65 710th 820 13.4%
2013 12.06 752nd 824 8.7%
2014 4.85 780th 826 5.6%
2015 4.00 797th 840 5.1%
2016 4.62 806th 848 5.0%
2017 9.34 771st 853 9.6%
2018 9.34 771st 847 9.0%
2019 4.72 824th 870 5.3%
2021 14.82 737th 869 15.2%
2022 11.88 752nd 858 12.4%
2023 12.49 738th 845 12.7%
2024 8.63 803rd 881 8.9%
See the entire list of Minnesota Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Discovery Community Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools MN State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 34.57 169th 242 30.2%
2019 26.46 209th 239 12.6%
2021 43.71 84th 175 52.0%
2022 38.66 156th 256 39.1%
2023 36.76 186th 276 32.6%
2024 30.21 229th 303 24.4%
See the entire list of Best Minnesota Elementary Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at Discovery Community Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools MN State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 18.47 400th 463 13.6%
2019 42.30 329th 515 36.1%
2021 37.65 288th 417 30.9%
2022 16.25 454th 500 9.2%
2023 26.70 416th 524 20.6%
2024 22.67 473rd 572 17.3%
See the entire list of Best Minnesota Elementary Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Discovery Community Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools MN State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 20.49 639th 728 12.2%
2019 12.09 688th 740 7.0%
2021 35.29 479th 683 29.9%
2022 33.90 466th 663 29.7%
2023 25.16 617th 774 20.3%
2024 17.75 687th 793 13.4%
See the entire list of Best Minnesota Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Discovery Community Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools MN State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 6.99 723rd 774 6.6%
2019 4.88 754th 787 4.2%
2021 18.01 658th 783 16.0%
2022 10.62 715th 799 10.5%
2023 6.59 738th 787 6.2%
2024 10.07 734th 809 9.3%
See the entire list of Best Minnesota Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Male students at Discovery Community Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools MN State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 15.20 688th 779 11.7%
2019 5.95 751st 798 5.9%
2021 11.81 695th 784 11.4%
2022 13.55 705th 808 12.7%
2023 20.56 658th 799 17.6%
2024 7.99 766th 826 7.3%
See the entire list of Best Minnesota Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for African American students at Discovery Community Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools MN State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 31.67 191st 266 28.2%
2019 19.11 249th 283 12.0%
2021 43.01 129th 227 43.2%
2022 47.09 139th 282 50.7%
2023 40.27 162nd 279 41.9%
2024 28.82 230th 310 25.8%
See the entire list of Best Minnesota Elementary Schools for African American Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Discovery Community Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools MN State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2019 30.29 167th 219 23.7%
2021 13.31 145th 153 5.2%
2022 37.79 136th 209 34.9%
2023 30.04 155th 214 27.6%
2024 20.71 210th 249 15.7%
See the entire list of Best Minnesota Elementary Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for White students at Discovery Community Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools MN State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 13.96 685th 712 3.8%
2019 9.17 702nd 722 2.8%
2021 48.33 369th 710 48.0%
2022 1.49 722nd 725 0.4%
2023 16.06 657th 712 7.7%
2024 9.47 707th 730 3.2%
See the entire list of Best Minnesota Elementary 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.

Discovery Community Elementary Test Scores
Tests: 
  
Grades: 
  
Years: 
  
Group by: 
District Scores:
State Scores:    
  
Subgroup: 






Data source: Minnesota Department of Education

Review counts

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Enrollment information for Discovery Community Elementary

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Compare
Year White African American Asian Hispanic American Indian Pacific Islander Two or More Races Not Specified Total
1991 775 8 26 7 6 n/a n/a 0 822
1993 858 6 11 2 2 n/a n/a 0 879
1994 820 4 26 4 6 n/a n/a 0 860
1995 880 6 21 1 0 n/a n/a 0 908
1996 880 6 21 1 0 n/a n/a 0 908
1997 798 6 19 4 0 n/a n/a 0 827
1998 716 11 21 4 3 n/a n/a 0 755
1999 699 15 18 16 3 n/a n/a 0 751
2000 685 22 24 9 4 n/a n/a 0 744
2001 630 26 30 12 6 n/a n/a 0 704
2002 552 25 38 13 8 n/a n/a 0 636
2003 552 25 38 13 8 n/a n/a 0 636
2004 501 46 63 39 11 n/a n/a 0 660
2005 485 71 58 43 7 n/a n/a 0 664
2006 421 75 58 55 10 n/a n/a 0 619
2007 382 82 61 63 10 n/a n/a 0 598
2008 397 114 61 70 11 n/a n/a 0 653
2009 372 108 56 74 3 n/a n/a 0 613
2010 307 111 49 76 8 n/a n/a 0 551
2011 226 91 37 76 4 0 30 0 464
2012 200 112 35 80 1 0 23 0 451
2013 175 108 30 92 4 0 31 0 440
2014 176 189 29 91 2 0 33 0 520
2015 145 205 25 95 0 0 38 0 508
2016 121 200 21 88 1 0 30 0 461
2017 104 235 17 60 0 0 18 0 434
2018 94 250 16 62 3 0 13 0 438
2019 105 321 12 61 5 3 30 0 537
2020 105 301 11 89 5 4 26 0 541
2021 96 336 9 78 1 6 25 0 551
2022 103 306 7 78 2 5 33 0 534
2023 94 251 6 95 2 3 32 0 483
2024 110 254 7 127 1 2 39 0 540

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 Discovery Community Elementary

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1991 822 42.0 19.5 19.2
1993 879 29.1 30.2 15.2
1994 860 37.0 23.2 24.7
1995 908 0.0 0.0 21
1996 908 0.0 0.0 21
1997 827 49.7 16.6 20.1
1998 755 n/a 0.0 21.5
1999 751 54.1 13.9 19.4
2000 744 53.8 13.8 33.7
2001 704 52.1 13.5 33.8
2002 636 49.6 12.8 38.7
2003 636 49.6 12.8 38.7
2004 660 48.9 13.5 56.4
2005 664 56.1 11.8 56.8
2006 619 52.9 11.7 62.4
2007 598 52.7 11.3 62.7
2008 653 49.4 13.2 66.2
2009 613 53.7 11.4 67.2
2010 551 50.9 10.8 73.9
2011 464 46.1 10.0 76.1
2012 451 41.2 10.9 76.5
2013 440 41.1 10.6 83
2014 520 41.6 12.4 86.5
2015 508 42.0 12.0 89.6
2016 461 42.0 10.9 89.6
2017 434 38.8 11.1 89.2
2018 438 36.1 12.1 91.1
2019 537 33.8 15.8 85.7
2020 541 45.6 11.8 86.1
2021 551 44.1 12.4 78.4
2022 534 46.1 11.5 78.5
2023 483 33.6 14.3 85.3
2024 540 43.5 12.3 84.8

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 Discovery Community Elementary

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1991 822 42.0 19.5 19.2
1993 879 29.1 30.2 15.2
1994 860 37.0 23.2 24.7
1995 908 0.0 0.0 21
1996 908 0.0 0.0 21
1997 827 49.7 16.6 20.1
1998 755 n/a 0.0 21.5
1999 751 54.1 13.9 19.4
2000 744 53.8 13.8 33.7
2001 704 52.1 13.5 33.8
2002 636 49.6 12.8 38.7
2003 636 49.6 12.8 38.7
2004 660 48.9 13.5 56.4
2005 664 56.1 11.8 56.8
2006 619 52.9 11.7 62.4
2007 598 52.7 11.3 62.7
2008 653 49.4 13.2 66.2
2009 613 53.7 11.4 67.2
2010 551 50.9 10.8 73.9
2011 464 46.1 10.0 76.1
2012 451 41.2 10.9 76.5
2013 440 41.1 10.6 83
2014 520 41.6 12.4 86.5
2015 508 42.0 12.0 89.6
2016 461 42.0 10.9 89.6
2017 434 38.8 11.1 89.2
2018 438 36.1 12.1 91.1
2019 537 33.8 15.8 85.7
2020 541 45.6 11.8 86.1
2021 551 44.1 12.4 78.4
2022 534 46.1 11.5 78.5
2023 483 33.6 14.3 85.3
2024 540 43.5 12.3 84.8

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 Discovery Community Elementary

Help

YearTotal Expenditures Per Pupil
2019 $14,592

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

Impact of COVID-19 on Discovery Community Elementary

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 824th of 870 Elementary schoolsRanks 738th of 845 Elementary schools
 7.4%

Test Scores

% proficient
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
% proficient
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
3rd Grade Math (Discovery Community Elementary)31.431.7
 0.3%
   3rd Grade Math (St. Cloud Public School District)5039.1
 10.9%
   3rd Grade Math (Minnesota)65.659.1
 6.5%
3rd Grade Reading (Discovery Community Elementary)24.122
 2.2%
   3rd Grade Reading (St. Cloud Public School District)38.132.2
 5.9%
   3rd Grade Reading (Minnesota)54.647.4
 7.2%
4th Grade Math (Discovery Community Elementary)25.627.9
 2.3%
   4th Grade Math (St. Cloud Public School District)43.636.5
 7.1%
   4th Grade Math (Minnesota)63.957.1
 6.8%
4th Grade Reading (Discovery Community Elementary)26.820.6
 6.2%
   4th Grade Reading (St. Cloud Public School District)37.432
 5.4%
   4th Grade Reading (Minnesota)55.448.4
 7.1%
5th Grade Math (Discovery Community Elementary)6.918.2
 11.2%
   5th Grade Math (St. Cloud Public School District)36.829.5
 7.3%
   5th Grade Math (Minnesota)5244.4
 7.6%
5th Grade Reading (Discovery Community Elementary)26.435.5
 9.1%
   5th Grade Reading (St. Cloud Public School District)51.645.7
 5.9%
   5th Grade Reading (Minnesota)65.858.7
 7%
5th Grade Science (Discovery Community Elementary)18.119.5
 1.4%
   5th Grade Science (St. Cloud Public School District)43.835
 8.8%
   5th Grade Science (Minnesota)54.948.4
 6.5%

Student Body

Number of students
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Number of students
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Total Students537483
 10.1%
African American321251
 21.8%
American Indian52
 60%
Asian126
 50%
Hispanic6195
 55.7%
Pacific Islander33
White10594
 10.5%
Two or More Races3032
 6.7%
% Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients85.7%85.3%
 0.4%


Schools Near Discovery Community Elementary









Frequently Asked Questions about Discovery Community Elementary

Discovery Community Elementary ranks in the bottom 8.9% of Minnesota elementary schools.

In the 2023-24 school year, 540 students attended Discovery Community Elementary.

Students who attend Discovery Community Elementary usually go on to attend:

Middle : South Junior High
High : Technical Senior High

Students at Discovery Community Elementary are 47% African American, 24% Hispanic, 20% White, 7% Two or more races, 1% Asian.


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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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