2831 12th Ave South, Minneapolis612-452-2274

Who we are at Aim Academy of Science and Technology

A 6–12 STEM-focused public charter school in South Minneapolis, dedicated to preparing students for success in school, college, careers, and beyond.

Delivering Exceptional STEM Education

A public charter school where every class is STEM-based

Aim Academy of Science and Technology (AAST) is a public charter school in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that is part of the MDE. It serves 170 middle and high schoolers from grades 6–12. All our classes are STEM-based.

As a STEM school, we provide a curriculum that is designed to provide basic knowledge of programming and computer languages. Courses we offer include coding and digital literacy classes. For our coding classes, we have partnered with the New Vision Foundation.

6–12Grades
170Students
$0Tuition
IQSAuthorizer
Aim Academy main entrance
A smiling student holds up her Arabic notebook
01Mission

AAST provides youth a successful path to college and STEM careers through culturally responsive mentorship, integrated STEM education, and curricular connections with technology-based businesses and industries.

02Vision

AAST will be a vibrant asset to its students and the community by creating engaging learning opportunities that empower students to discover, create and apply knowledge to real needs resulting in life-long learners, global citizens, and world leaders.

Core Beliefs

Our core beliefs at Aim Academy

Our core values guide everything we do. We cultivate lifelong learners, celebrate differences, recognize the value in every individual, and honor one another as we build a community where every student can grow, lead, and thrive.

We believe every person is a lifelong learner. Our minds and hearts are designed to grow, explore, and expand in knowledge and ability. At Aim Academy, learning is an adventure where mistakes are not failures but opportunities to grow stronger and wiser.

Each individual brings unique experiences, insights, and perspectives that enrich our community. At Aim Academy, we cultivate respect by valuing every voice, clarifying expectations, and creating space for students to share their strengths.

Diversity is not just welcomed, it is celebrated. We recognize that our different cultures, backgrounds, and lived experiences are assets that make us stronger together. Our collective growth is fueled by honoring and learning from these differences.

We are a community of learners who hold one another accountable for our success. Students and staff alike support each other in reaching their highest potential, ensuring no one is left behind.

We believe differences empower greatness. By respecting, uplifting, and learning from one another, we gain new energy, deepen our understanding of ourselves and others, and build a vibrant school community where everyone thrives.

Dr. Abdirashid Abdi
Leadership

Meet our Founder & Executive Director

Abdirashid Abdi, PhD · 2017 Bush Foundation Fellow

Abdirashid Abdi is a 2017 Bush Foundation Fellow. As a fellow, Abdi seeks to improve academic performance in a diverse population by helping teachers better understand the role of the student's cultural background in shaping his/her learning styles.

The Bush Fellowship supported his pursuit of a doctoral degree in curriculum and instruction. Formerly, Dr. Abdi was the director at Heritage Academy of Science and Technology. He has also been a research assistant at the University of Minnesota and served on the 2019 Minnesota Science Standards Review Committee, where he contributed greatly to the state's effort in aligning the new science standards with the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students in Minnesota schools.

He is a MN licensed science teacher grades 5–8, Tier 4. His doctoral work in STEM education was in the Curriculum & Instruction department at the University of Minnesota.

Meet the full staff
Why Aim Academy?

See Aim in action

Hear our students look back on their middle school years, and see a year of classes, celebrations and teams at Aim. Both videos have captions and a full transcript.

Students look back on middle school at Aim
Read the transcript

[Students finishing middle school at Aim Academy take turns speaking to the camera, one line at a time, in classrooms and around the school. Their words also appear as captions on screen.]

We came in nervous, unsure and a little shorter. Now we’re walking out taller and a lot more confident. From locker jams to last-minute projects, we’ve survived it all. We learned formulas, essays and how to deal with group projects. Spoiler alert: one person still did all the work.

But more than anything, we’ve learned about ourselves. We discovered our passion, our strength and our voice. We laughed a lot. We cried, sometimes from stress and sometimes from laughter, and sometimes because of cafeteria food. But we always showed up, no matter what.

To our teachers, thank you for your encouragement, your patience and your endless reminders, even when we forgot to do the homework again. To our families, your love has been our foundation. You cheered us on, drove us everywhere and believed in us even when we didn’t. To our friends, thank you for being the people we laughed with, leaned on and made memories with. Memories like spirit week, field trips and that one time somebody let it out in class.

We won’t forget the inside jokes or the lessons we didn’t expect to learn. This isn’t the end. It’s just the beginning. We’re stepping into a world that needs our creativity, courage and kindness. We’re ready to rise, to make mistakes, learn and grow, because we already did it once and we can do it again.

Middle school was our training ground. Now we aim higher, towards high school and beyond. We walk out these doors not just older, but wiser. Not just students, but leaders. Not just peers, but family. So here’s to the next chapter, to the dreams we’re chasing, and to the class that will never be forgotten.

[Music plays over short clips of students working together in a classroom, talking outside, in the gym and in a hallway. The video fades to black.]

Moments from a year at Aim
Read the transcript

[Music plays throughout the video. There is no narration.]

[Students dance in a line in the school gym, below a large painted Aim Academy mascot. Outside the school, a student smiles at the camera and flashes a peace sign. In the gym, a student in a long white robe addresses classmates seated on the floor beneath the “Aim Academy Arctic” logo. A classroom full of students cheers with their hands in the air, and a group of students dances in a hallway.]

[The rest of the video is a slideshow of photos framed like strips of film: students posing together in the gym and in classrooms, friends taking selfies, students working at their desks and writing in notebooks, students and staff holding award certificates, students dressed up in suits, students posing under colorful lights, the basketball team in white jerseys, and students outside in winter coats.]

[The video ends with a group photo of the whole school in front of the Aim Academy of Science & Technology building, followed by the Aim Academy logo.]

Governance

Board, policies and authorizer

As a public charter school, Aim Academy is governed by an elected Board of Directors and authorized by Innovative Quality Schools. Meeting notices, minutes and annual reports are public.

Board of Directors
Admissions · Tuition-free

Apply for the 2026–2027 School Year

Tuition-free public charter schoolGrades 6–12Transportation available
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Read the transcript