By Logan Wells, News Director | Logan@kymnradio.net
In January, Arcadia Charter School gave its annual presentation to the Northfield School Board. Arcadia is a public charter school located in Northfield for Middle School and High School students with about 120 students. The district is the authorizer of Arcadia, which means that they make sure Arcadia meets all legal mandates and maintains a quality education program. The presentation is one part of the authorizing process. Executive Director of Arcadia, Laura Stelter, shared the school’s four focus areas as part of their mission, Progression Education, Equitable and inclusive, Growth and transition-focused, and project-based learning.
“That progressive piece is really coming through that engaged citizenship. It’s sort of that Dewey tradition of progressive education, really preparing students to participate in democracy. Equitable and inclusive we really see that in how we are working with our special education students. Have a much higher special education population than a traditional district typically has.” – Laura Stelter, Executive Director of Arcadia Charter School at the 1/13/2025 School Board Meeting
Stelter noted that the project-based learning curriculum has had a positive impact on student achievement in the classroom and in state test scores:
“The reading and science scores are especially good. We have a really, I think a lot of the work that they do in that opening expedition and in their classes across the board, really building literacy skills. Our science scores. If you look at our science curriculum, it’s very project-based, and I think there’s a lot of hands-on pieces there that really help build their science understanding.” – Laura Stelter, Executive Director of Arcadia Charter School at the 1/13/2025 School Board Meeting
Among the other accomplishments include nearly half the senior class participating in Post Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) and six students since 2020 receiving the Bilingual Seal Testing. The average ACT score at Arcadia is 26, which is significantly higher than the national average of 19.4.
See the full presentation below:
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