Gideon Pond makes top ten list of best elementary schools in Twin Cities suburbs

Gideon Pond Elementary School has been named one of the top 10 elementary schools in the Twin Cities suburbs by SchoolSparrow, which publishes public K-12 school rankings that account for differences in parent income, elevating diverse schools to the forefront and shifting focus away from family income. Schools are ranked based on how they perform compared to their expected scores (which are a factor of family income) rather than the state average calculated from raw standardized test score data.

SchoolSparrow noted that Minnesota schools with similar parent income profiles tend to score around 47 points, meaning 47% of their students meet or exceed state standards. At Gideon Pond, however, students exceed this average by 22 percent, and the school overall scores 57 points!

In 2019, Gideon Pond was one of 10 District 191 schools identified as an exemplar school, completing PBIS implementation and continuing to achieve positive student outcomes.

Additionally, Gideon Pond Elementary students showed great growth on the state reading test in 2019. With 78 percent of students showing progress and nearly 40 percent of students improving from one level of proficiency to the next, Gideon Pond ranked in the top 10 elementary schools in the state in terms of reading growth.

District 191 elementary schools are in their third year of a new literacy model and reading curriculum, and this is the first year teachers are using the complementary writing curriculum.

“This school clearly deserves an A rating (10/10) and counts as one of the best Twin Cities suburb schools!” declared Nia Hurst of SchoolSparrow.