Residents have a choice of schools, both public and private.  18% of resident elementary children attend the school in their home district.  Another 27% of resident children attend school in a nearby neighborhood.  Most strikingly, only 5% of Asian (primarily Hmong-American) resident students have chosen to attend their home district school, and 17% attend nearby schools.

New school construction projects have increased the capacity of local schools.  But there are still twice as many elementary school students in the area as seats in district schools.  However, a recent decline in neighborhood school attendance has resulted in small vacancies within all local schools.

Attendance rates count every school day for all students.  The overall rates are generally above 90%, but are still lower in Making Connections than city or statewide.  Truancy rates are more varied.  A student is considered a “habitual truant” when they have five days of unexcused absences within a school semester.  Only 5% of students state wide are “habitually truants” compared to 51% of students attending public schools within the Making Connections area.