The Next Step
North Saint Paul · MN · North St. Paul-Maplewood Oakdale · Public
Similar nearby schools
Most similar nearby schools
FACE TO FACE ACADEMY → Sejong Academy Upper School → South Campus Education Center → ALC Gateway to College → Lionsgate Academy AIM → Journeys Secondary School → Quora Secondary School → White Bear Area Learning Center →At a glance
- AP rigor: Bottom 6% of US high schools
- SAT/ACT participation: Bottom 4% by test-taker volume
Composed from federal CRDC offerings, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.
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How The Next Step compares for families
What families should know about The Next Step.
- ▸ LocallyMN students outperform the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math (+7 points).
- ▸ vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: FACE TO FACE ACADEMY, Sejong Academy Upper School, South Campus Education Center and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.
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SAT / ACT participation
CRDC federal data · 2020-21Bottom 4% by test-taker volume
Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). Volume — not score — is what's reported here. A higher count means more students at this school are entering the college admissions pipeline. Note: 2020-21 was COVID-disrupted; some districts (especially those that stayed remote longer) report unusually low or zero takers.
Teacher workforce · federal CRDC
Teacher experience & reliability
Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2017-18 — the most recent vintage that publishes per-school teacher quality fields; the 2020-21 sweep had them suppressed). "Inexperienced" = teachers in their first or second year. "Chronic absence" = teachers absent 10+ days/year.
Federal Title I context
Title I Schoolwide eligible
≥40% FRPL — qualifies for Title I Schoolwide program
40-74% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. The district can use Title I funds across the whole school under federal Schoolwide Program rules.
Source: NCES Common Core of Data, free/reduced-price lunch eligibility. The actual Title I designation is a district decision and may differ from eligibility — but the federal eligibility math is what we show here. We don't claim to assert whether the district formally chose to enroll this school in Title I.
Your state's public flagship
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
The in-state tuition gap is the flagship's biggest draw — most in-state families pay far less than the out-of-state sticker. Average net price after aid runs about $16,778/yr. Admission odds depend on your student's GPA and test scores, not which high school they attend.
Source: IPEDS admissions, tuition & enrollment + College Scorecard net price. Flagship = the state's primary public research university.
Chronic absenteeism
Why this matters to enrollment: Chronic absence is the strongest early indicator of dropout, transfer-out, and family disengagement. A school's absenteeism trend forecasts its enrollment trend 1-3 years out.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020–2021. Rate = students chronically absent ÷ 2021 total enrollment.
Enrollment trend & projection
Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).
If the recent trend holds…
At its recent rate of -6.1%/year, projecting from 2024's 84 students:
A small or specialty program — naive trend math doesn't capture the school's full picture. Read the trend as directional, not predictive.
An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.
Most similar nearby high schools
The schools most like this one — same type, blended on distance and size — and where their enrollment is heading. These are the schools families here weigh against each other.
| School | Type | Miles | HS enrollment | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FACE TO FACE ACADEMY SAINT PAUL |
Public · charter | 4.5 | 83 | -8.8% |
| Sejong Academy Upper School MAPLEWOOD |
Public · charter | 3.0 | 65 | +6.6% |
| South Campus Education Center WHITE BEAR LAKE |
Public | 2.6 | 61 | +22.0% |
| ALC Gateway to College SAINT PAUL |
Public | 4.9 | 107 | -18.3% |
| Lionsgate Academy AIM NORTH SAINT PAUL |
Public · charter | 0.2 | 51 | — |
| Journeys Secondary School SAINT PAUL |
Public | 7.9 | 73 | +10.6% |
| Quora Secondary School LITTLE CANADA |
Public | 5.6 | 109 | -6.0% |
| White Bear Area Learning Center WHITE BEAR LAKE |
Public | 2.2 | 140 | +8.5% |
At a glance
JSON · Using this page with an AI assistantThe Next Step is a public high school in North Saint Paul, MN, enrolling 84 students in grades 9-12 in 2024.
Enrollment is down 14% from 2021 to 2024.
2 students took the SAT or ACT in the most recent federal count, a participation level above 4% of U.S. high schools.
13% of its students were chronically absent in 2020.
Sources: National Center for Education Statistics (enrollment), the federal Civil Rights Data Collection and EDFacts, state education agencies where named, and the school's own published documents where named.
Questions families ask
How many students attend The Next Step? The Next Step is a public high school in North Saint Paul, MN, enrolling 84 students in grades 9-12 in 2024.
Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com). These figures may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.
What does AI tell parents about The Next Step?
When a parent asks an AI assistant about The Next Step, the answer is built from a handful of sources, and Reach is often one of them. We will send your school a short report on what AI says about The Next Step and where it comes from. The first report is free.
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Related reading
AP courses · October 2026
Test scores · October 2026