St. Paul City is a free charter school with a focus on building the whole child. Our mission is to prepare students to embrace their full potential and pursue higher education. Our educational approach is rooted in standards and guided by our vision to develop a multicultural learning community passionately committed to the total development of every child. Each student has core subject in addition to a rich array of specialists.

ECHO Charter School is located in rural Southwest Minnesota. We first opened our doors in 1997. A group of concerned parents and other community members gathered to discuss the desire to establish a school that was more geographically convenient than the existing school districts and would better meet the specific, individual needs of their children. They wanted a school that was small, one where students felt comfortable and, ideally, where parents would have more input into their children’s education.

Beacon Academy opened its doors on September 7, 2004 to 93 students in grades K-3. Over the next several years, the school has added grades and currently is a K-8 school with 425 students enrolled for the coming school year. Beacon Academy was founded on three tenets -- Core Knowledge Curriculum, Character Education and Daily Spanish. Over the years, the school has implemented several innovative practices including: