SouthWest Metro Educational Cooperative

What SouthWest Metro Educational Cooperative does

SouthWest Metro Educational Cooperative, legally known as Southwest Metro Intermediate School District 288, is a public intergovernmental educational cooperative headquartered in Shakopee, Minnesota. It was established under a Joint Powers Agreement among school districts in the Southwest Metro region and currently serves 11 member districts and 8 associate districts. Its primary customers are these member/associate districts and, by extension, the students and families accessing its programs. Funding comes from member district contributions, state education funding, and federal grants; no commercial pricing is publicly disclosed.

The cooperative operates a multi-site, multi-modality portfolio of educational programs. Core offerings include Elevate Online (334 students served via a full online course catalog for middle and high school), Adult Education (approximately 900 students), Special Education programs delivered across at least eight education center locations (approximately 840 students), the Alternative Learning Center / SWMetro High School with a reported 100% college acceptance rate, Career & Technical Education spanning six career clusters (Agriculture/Food/Natural Resources, Arts/Communications/Information Systems, Engineering/Manufacturing, Health Science Technology, Hospitality/Tourism, Human Services), Care & Treatment services (correctional, day treatment, residential treatment), and Child Care at the East Creek Family Center. Distribution channels include direct program delivery at physical sites and self-serve online enrollment for Elevate Online and the ALC high school. Outreach is conducted through the cooperative's website, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn accounts.

The underlying technology infrastructure is limited to a Finalsite-based website platform; no proprietary technology stack, APIs, or SDKs were disclosed. The cooperative is governed by a publicly appointed School Board and is currently conducting a 2026 Superintendent Search. As a government education entity, it is not owned or controlled by any private parent company, investor, or holding structure, and there are no disclosed subsidiaries, M&A activity, or funding rounds.

Name

SouthWest Metro Educational Cooperative

Legal name

Southwest Metro Intermediate School District 288

Website

https://swmetro.k12.mn.us

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Short description

SouthWest Metro Educational Cooperative (Minnesota ISD 288) is a public educational cooperative serving 11 member and 8 associate school districts via shared programs in special education, adult education, online learning, career-technical education, and alternative learning.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

K-12 Public Education Cooperative Services

NAICS

Elementary and Secondary Schools (611110), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Child Day Care Services (8351)

akta.pro primary industry

Specialized Inclusive / Co-Taught Special Education Programs (EDAKAAAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Community & Adult Education (Municipal/Community Schools) (EDAAAEAB)

Keywords

• K-12 educational services
• Special education programs
• Alternative learning center
• Career technical education
• Adult education programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Shakopee

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Others

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

SouthWest Metro Educational Cooperative (Intermediate School District 288) provides shared K-12 and adult educational services to 11 member districts and 8 associate districts in Minnesota. Its offering spans Elevate Online virtual schooling, Adult Education, Alternative Learning Center (ALC) high school, Career & Technical Education across six clusters, Special Education and itinerant services at eight locations, Care & Treatment programs (correctional, day treatment, residential), and East Creek Family Center child care. The cooperative centralizes specialized programs that individual member districts cannot efficiently run on their own, serving roughly 2,000+ students across the Southwest Metro region.

Product overview

SouthWest Metro Educational Cooperative (Intermediate School District 288) operates as a multi-site educational services organization serving 11 member districts and 8 associate districts. The cooperative provides a diverse portfolio of educational programs and services, including Elevate Online (online middle and high school with 334 students), Adult Education (serving 900 students), Alternative Learning Center, Care & Treatment programs (correctional facilities, day treatment, residential treatment), Career & Technical Education across six career clusters, Child Care services, and Special Services with special education programs at eight locations (serving 840 students). The organization also operates SWMetro High School (ALC) with a 100% college acceptance rate. Programs span from early childhood care through adult education, delivered across multiple physical sites and online platforms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Elevate Online: Online education program offering middle school and high school courses for students in the SWMetro district
• SWMetro Educational Foundation
• SouthWest Metro High School (ALC)

Products and services

• Elevate Online Online school program serving middle school and high school students with a full course catalog, attendance management, tech support, and staff directory; serves approximately 334 students.
• Adult Education Educational programs for adult learners serving approximately 900 students annually.
• Alternative Learning Center (ALC) / SWMetro High School Alternative learning programs providing alternative education pathways for high school students, with a reported 100% college acceptance rate for graduates.
• Care & Treatment Programs Comprehensive care and treatment services including Correctional Facilities, Day Treatment, and Residential Treatment programs for students.
• Career & Technical Education Career and technical education programs covering Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources; Arts, Communications & Information Systems; Engineering & Manufacturing; Health Science Technology; Hospitality and Tourism; and Human Services.
• East Creek Family Center Child Care Child care services operated at the East Creek Family Center for families in the cooperative region.
• Special Services (Special Education and Itinerant Services) Special education programs and itinerant services serving approximately 840 special education students across multiple locations including 401 Education Center (Chaska), Buffalo Area Education Center, Dean Lakes Education Center, East Union Education Center, Freedom Academy, River Valley Education Center, St. Bonifacius Education Center, and Waseca Central.

Quantifiable outcome

• 100% acceptance rate for educational programs

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Sourcewell (formerly NJPA): Minnesota-based cooperative serving schools, government, and nonprofits with shared procurement and education services. Same Minnesota cooperative/Joint Powers legal structure as SWMetro and similar governance model.
• Northeast Metro 916 Intermediate School District: Minnesota Intermediate School District serving the northeast metro with shared special education, career-technical, and alternative learning programs. Operates an overlapping service mix (special-ed sites, ALC, career programs) for member districts.
• Metro Education Cooperative Services Unit (Metro ECSU): Minnesota-based education service cooperative providing shared special education, career-technical, and adult education services to member districts in the Twin Cities metro. Most direct structural analog to SWMetro's regional cooperative model.

Broad incumbents

• Stride, Inc. (formerly K12 Inc.): National publicly traded provider of online K-12 education, career learning, and special education services. Most relevant comparable for SWMetro's Elevate Online and adult/career learning lines as a scaled private-sector counterpart.
• Edmentum: Provider of online learning programs, assessments, and career-planning tools to K-12 districts and adult learners nationally. Comparable to SWMetro's Elevate Online and adult education delivery infrastructure.
• Connections Academy: Online K-12 schooling operator (Stride subsidiary) offering tuition-free public online school programs in multiple states. Directly comparable to Elevate Online in product and target student, though operating at national scale.
• Catapult Learning: National provider of special education, intervention, and alternative education services to K-12 districts. Closest scaled private-sector analog to SWMetro's Special Services and Care & Treatment programs.

Regional players

• New York State BOCES (Boards of Cooperative Educational Services): New York's structural analog to Minnesota ISDs: regional cooperative service units providing shared special education, CTE, and instructional services to component school districts. Same underlying cooperative-district service model in a different state.
• Iowa Area Education Agencies (AEA): Iowa's regional intermediate education agencies provide shared special education, media, and instructional services to school districts — the structural twin of SWMetro in a neighboring state with comparable rural/suburban mix.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCIzEaInGw_7X4jKGsELVFVw/featured
• Facebookfacebook.com/SWMetro
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/swmetro
• Instagraminstagram.com/southwestmetro288

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SouthWest Metro Educational Cooperative