Athlos Academy of St. Cloud Receives Volunteers of America Award for Academic Achievement

The Volunteers of America (VOA), which authorizes Minnesota character schools, recently presented Athlos Academy of St. Cloud an award for academic improvement in math and reading.

According to the Minnesota Department of Education, Athlos Academy was one of two schools in St. Cloud to increase proficiency in reading and math from 2018 to 2019. For the second year in a row, students who were enrolled in Athlos Academy of St. Cloud for a longer period of time grew more academically than their peers in neighboring St. Cloud schools.

Of all Athlos of St. Cloud students, 73 percent achieved high or medium growth in math on the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment while 78 percent achieved the same in reading.

Minnesota Department of Education’s North Star accountability system uses five key indicators to assess a school’s success.

These indicators are:

• Academic achievement based on MCA scores
• Progress to proficiency for English-learners
• Academic progress from one year to the next
• Graduation rates over four or seven years
• Consistent attendance.

Athlos Academy of St. Cloud showed growth in all factors of the North Star accountability system, with highlights of student and school success including:

• Athlos Academy of St. Cloud was only one of two schools in St. Cloud to increase proficiency in math and reading from 2018 to 2019. While locally in St. Cloud, math and reading proficiency decreased by close to one percent, Athlos Academy of St. Cloud students saw an increase in math proficiency of six percent and an increase in reading proficiency of four percent from 2018 to 2019.
• The percent of Athlos Academy of St. Cloud English-language learners who met their individual learning targets stayed consistent at 77 percent, with 138 students meeting individual learning targets (up from 124 in 2018).
• At Athlos Academy of St. Cloud, 73 percent of students achieved high or medium growth on the math MCA and 78 percent achieved high or medium growth in the reading MCA.
• Average attendance at Athlos Academy of St. Cloud increased two percent from 2018 to 2019.