One of Minnesota’s top-performing schools, Math and Science Academy in Woodbury, currently serves 720 students and plans to double that number by 2026.
Math and Science Academy, at 8430 Woodbury Crossing, will begin construction in April to expand its current grades 6-12 charter school and add a new elementary school. The $55 million project is the result of a school in high demand, according to executive director Kate Hinton.
“We do great things for students and we want to give them that opportunity to be a part of the school, but we’re just completely out of space,” Hinton said.
MSA’s background
In 1998, Dimitrios Hilton envisioned creating a math and science-focused school that offered advanced classes, according to Hinton. In 1999, the school opened its doors to fewer than 200 students.
“We have a real hands-on approach to learning, which we still, to this day, continue to work on and make sure that kids are getting that deep understanding,” Hinton said.
The current school is split between four adjacent buildings, two of which the school owns and two of which they’re leasing, according to Hinton. For the project, the two buildings owned by the MSA building company, Buildings A and B, will become a K-5 school. They will no longer lease Buildings C and D.
“The school has been working on expansion pretty much since we’ve opened,” Hinton said. “That’s how we ended up with four buildings.”
Adding an elementary school
Building A is on one floor, where K-2 classes will be held to make it easier for the younger ones to navigate, while Building B is three stories high, Hinton said.
“We’re excited about starting them in kindergarten so that instead of trying to close achievement gaps, we can prevent them,” Hinton said.
About $1 million will be spent on renovating buildings A and B to include a cafeteria and kitchen, Hinton said, something the school does not currently have in the grades 6-12 program.
“Even though there’s free school lunch in the state, we can’t offer it because we don’t have the facilities to manage it,” Hinton said. “That’s something we’re really excited about in our expansion.”
Like the current grades 6-12 program, the new elementary will aim to teach students math and science at a high level, including an early introduction to algebra in fourth and fifth grades, according to Hinton.
“We’re looking to have it be a precursor to our secondary program,” Hinton said. “We want to have a lot of hands-on learning, we want to have a STEM focus.”
Hinton said young students will have the opportunity to engage in project-based learning opportunities, connecting students with STEM programs like Project Lead the Way, where students will learn coding and how to do the work of scientists and engineers.
Along with a strong STEM focus, Hinton said elementary students will also be introduced to instrumental music programming and Spanish enrichment programming to prepare them for a requirement of secondary school, which is to take Spanish classes up to level five.
“We feel like when you’re learning a language, that’s also growing your brain and helps our students be successful,” Hinton said.
Total enrollment for the elementary school will allow 450 students, but it will open with 350 students in the first year and then at full capacity the following school year, according to Hinton.
“We just want to get a chance to work out any kinks,” Hinton said.
A new secondary location
Current students attending the 50,000-square-foot middle and high school will be moved to the corner of Mile Drive and Bailey Road, into a 125,000-square-foot building featuring spaces the current building does not have such as a full-sized competition gym, track and field, weight room, media center, kitchen, cafeteria, outdoor learning environments, 36 classrooms and 15 STEM labs.
With the new building, the school will have more than 1,500 students.
“This is something we’ve been talking about for a long time, so I think our families are excited to actually see this project come through,” Hinton said.
The school will sell bonds of $55 million in March to fund the project, $54 million of which will be spent on construction for the new building, according to Hinton. Charter schools are public schools with unique funding, Hinton said, as their funding comes from state lease aid, which totals more than $1,300 per student.
“We have to be careful about how we construct because we probably have about 60% of the money that a traditional district would for buildings, but we’ve figured it out,” Hinton said.
In high demand
Hinton said the school, which operates on a lottery system, has more than 700 student applicants.
“We really can’t continue here with our current enrollment without moving,” Hinton said. “It’s just too tight.”
Math and Science Academy is ranked the number one “best high school in Minnesota,” by U.S. News & World Report based on its graduation rate, college readiness and enrollment criteria.
Hinton said the lottery season is a difficult time for students and families, as not all students are accepted into the well-regarded school. With the new construction project allowing in more students, Hinton said she’s excited for new students to have the opportunity to participate.
“Because we take students in on the lottery, they come in at all ability levels,” Hinton said. “We graduate them with some of the highest or in the top five ACT scores in the state.”
“The last few years, we’ve been rated the number one high school in the state, which is something we’re proud of, but that’s not something that defines us,” Hinton said. “It’s just an outcome of the well-rounded education that we provide for our students.”
The lottery is conducted based on state statute, Hinton said. The first students to get accepted are siblings of current students, then the children of staff. Once those lists are exhausted, students are randomly selected from general applications until they reach capacity.
The lottery for the 2025-26 school year is closed, but families can still apply at apply.mnmsa.org to be added to the waitlist.