What is PSA?
About
Prairie Seeds Academy is a public charter school. Tuition, meals and transportation are provided for every child. After-school learning and activities, sports, summer school and field trips provide an engaging place of growing learning and sharing. We have 700+ K-12 students.
PSA strives to raise bright, confident global leaders and problem-solvers. We do this in concert with families, communities, businesses and other local educational facilities.
For example: The PSA “College-In-School” classes through the University of Minnesota enable students to earn UMN college credits while in High School. Students can earn credits from North Hennepin Community College and Minnesota International University. These credits are often accepted towards the completion of a college degree. Juniors and seniors at PSA can accumulate a semester or two of courses towards completion of their undergraduate college degrees–saving thousands of dollars.
Prairie Seeds Academy Honors Courses are offered for students who have shown outstanding abilities in subject areas. Currently PSA offers Honors Courses in the following areas: English, Social Studies and Science.
Our students come from many diverse communities including: Hmong, Laotian, Cambodian, Latino, Liberian African American and others. We have a zero tolerance policy for harassment (bullying) and hazing–two of the main challenges facing immigrant children. We provide a safe and supportive environment for students to learn and grow.
The majority of the students at PSA speak more than one language at home. We are staffed with Reading, Math, and Special Education specialists to provide additional supports for students who are learning to speak English as their primary language. Prairie Seeds Academy has literacy and language learning courses in Hmong and Spanish.
Join us as we mold future generations.
History
Prairie Seeds Academy (PSA) was founded in 2004 by Cha Ger Yang and Choua Yang, a visionary husband and wife team. Their passion to make a difference in the lives of young people, especially those who are under-represented, inspired their amazing accomplishments and continues to guide this remarkable school.
Prairie Seeds Academy (PSA) first opened its doors in 2004 and was originally located on Girard Avenue North in a small facility called Family Baptist Church which was located in the heart of North Minneapolis. The school opened its first year with about 100 students in kindergarten through 5th grade. The vision was to expand to become a K-8 school.
PSA then added one grade level each year until 8th grade. After three years of operation PSA added a new grade level and was then serving students K-8. PSA outgrew its original facility and moved into a vacant elementary school leased from Robbinsdale School District. This multi-acre site was large enough to allow for the building renovation and expansion. The vision was to now expand to a K-12 school.
In 2008 it applied for and received permission to expand to grade 12. After the expansion request was approved in 2008, PSA added 9th and 10th grades. Due to delays in approval of the grade level expansion and building bond request, PSA temporarily leased a vacant elementary school in Golden Valley in 2008 to house its elementary program. For almost two years, the elementary school was located in Golden Valley while the middle school and partial high school remained in the one wing of the Brooklyn Park site. During this time period, the constructions of this new wing and additional wing were on-going. After a long wait, the new addition was completed on March 4, 2010 and during Spring Break the middle school and high school moved into the new addition and the elementary returned to the remodeled site in Brooklyn Park.
Prairie Seeds Academy has always, and continues to take a personal approach to teaching what is relevant to students and their lives. PSA uses data to determine the exact instructional focus for each student in their reading, writing and math so that everyone can be a winner.