1607 Highway 96 E
Saint Paul, MN 55110

Birch Lake Elementary continues to be a fantastic school for my kids to attend. Each of the four years so far has impressed me a great deal. Here s just a few reasons why: The teachers are excellent and consistently demonstrate how they truly care about our kids The kids are not numbers here and they are always encouraged to reach their full potential School test scores keep rising The Title I program here has incredible teachers the Core Values that are stressed are the kinds of things that make for a positive school and family environment The PTA goes above and beyond to help the kids and the school overall The great partnerships the school has between the YMCA, the guest Artists, the McPhail Music Center (giant kudos here), multi-cultural guests, etc, etc, are so appreciated as well. I love this school, and am so grateful that my kids have the opportunity to attend such a great public school. Truly it has exceeded my expectations.

I really hate this school and in the worst I’ve ever gone to. It is very cliquey and nobody will talk to you epically if they’re considered “popular”. The teachers bearly teach, they just put up slideshows and give packets and put no effort into actually making the class interested in the topic or learn anything. The whole cycle is just cramming stuff until the test, this is especially the case with the math and social studies classes, but is true for genuinely all of them. There are no advanced classes for kids who need them for a challenge. The only one available is for math and not everyone’s super good at that. The kids all have very bad grades and just don’t care because the school doesn’t either. There are no punishments for missing assignments so kids will have many most times. Lunch room and classes are very crowded. Funding is super poor and the kid have to pay for many things such as $20 fold trip where we just walked around a park and lunched rockets for 20 minutes. The justified the trip money as the rockets costing that much. Another upcoming field trip is the valley fair field trip which kids must just outright pay the entire ticket fee with the school offering no discount meaning the the child would just be better off going with their parents. The schools bathrooms often are locked for “vandalism” and you may have to walk far to another bathroom. The bathrooms themselves have an awful lingering smell. This school is very dirty and small and overall unappealing in every way to look at. The kids are horrible as well, they’re are basically only white kids here and other races usually are not very popular. Epically lgbtq and special ed/disabled kids are very discriminated against. People spread rumors like wildfire and overall they are very bored and have nothing better to do to do than make fun of people. There are no parties and no good real drama. Overall I would never recommend this school.it is truly just awful.

I have nothing but great things to say about White Bear Lake High School. I have two students there and I have been highly satisfied with the level and rigor of education they are receiving. The music programs, band and orchestra, are excellent. My kids intentionally sought out AP and CIS course work and have received appropriate education at that level. My eldest scored in the top 98% on the ACT so I'm satisfied that his education was solid. Like any schools, there are likely issues for some students. I have non-athletes so I can't speak to the athletic departments. I am highly satisfied and wouldn't hesitate to recommend WBL schools for families that are looking for a solid public school