Student drivers · ages 15 to 17
Classroom teachers, teaching students how to drive.
The same classroom teachers applying the same educational concepts, teaching techniques, and adaptations in the car to meet the needs of all students. We started this because the district stopped offering behind-the-wheel, and families still needed it.
The process
How a teen gets licensed in Minnesota
Four steps, and they have to happen in order. Most families get tripped up because nobody hands them the whole picture at once. Here it is.
Thirty hours of classroom
Required before the permit test. Your student can do this online or in a classroom. We do not teach the classroom hours — you will need a completion letter from wherever they take it, and we need that letter before we can enroll them.
Enroll with us, then pass the permit test
Once you enroll and pay, we enter your student in the state system and issue the blue card they need to sit the permit test. That takes about 48 hours. Then they take the written test at a DVS exam station.
Six hours behind the wheel — plus fifty hours with you
The six hours are ours. The fifty are yours. Minnesota requires fifty hours of supervised driving logged with a parent or guardian, fifteen of them at night. This is the part most families white-knuckle through alone, and it is the part that actually makes a driver.
Six months on the permit, then the road test
A student under 18 must hold the instruction permit for at least six months before the road test, and must be 16 to apply for a license. No shortcuts on either.
The order matters. Classroom first, then the blue card, then the permit, then lessons. We cannot take a student out until they have a permit in hand. If you are not sure where your student is in the sequence, text us and we will work it out with you.
Requirements from Minnesota DVS. Rules change — check the current DVS requirements before you plan around a date.
What we do
The six hours
Six hours of behind-the-wheel instruction, taught one-on-one by a teacher your student may already know. Not just test prep — the kind of driving they will actually do once they have a license. Left turns. Highway merges. Cedar Avenue at 4pm.
Behind the wheel
All six hours, plus the blue card your student needs to take the permit test. Payment plan available: $215 down, $210 before the first lesson.
Priority scheduling
Optional. Moves your student up the list when the schedule is full. Worth it if there is a road test on the calendar.
Scheduling is the honest part. Lessons usually happen within 90 days of when you ask to schedule, but demand runs ahead of us and it can take up to four months. Summer is the worst. If your student has a date they need to be ready by, tell us early rather than late.
For parents
The fifty hours are the hard part
Six hours with us. Fifty with you. That ratio tells you where your student actually learns to drive — and almost nobody teaches parents how to do it.
You do not need to be a driving instructor. You need to know when to talk and when to stay quiet, what to practice in what order, and how to keep your voice level when your kid drifts toward a curb. Ask your instructor. They will tell you what to work on next, every single lesson.
Start in an empty lot. Not a quiet street — a lot. A Sunday-morning parking lot is where a new driver learns what the pedals do without anything to hit. Everything else gets easier after that.
Logistics
Where we meet and when
Our instructors teach in ISD 196 schools, so we already schedule around the school day, practices, and games. Evenings and weekends are normal for us.
Pickup. Included across most of the ISD 196 area. Farther out there is a charge per lesson, listed below. It is applied when you schedule, not when you enroll.
Meeting point. Always free, from anywhere. Many families just meet the instructor at the school.
The car. Your student drives ours. It is insured and maintained. No passengers during a lesson — the student driver and the instructor only.
Pickup
What pickup costs
Pickup is not part of the $425. It is charged per lesson, when you schedule — so a student who meets us for two lessons and gets picked up for the third only pays once.
| Where you live | Pickup, per lesson |
|---|---|
| Apple Valley, Burnsville, Rosemount, Eagan Plus Lakeville north of 185th St and Farmington north of 220th St | Included |
| Inver Grove Heights, and the far edges of Lakeville and Farmington Lakeville south of 185th St, Farmington south of 220th St, Empire Township | $30 |
| Hastings, Northfield, and farther out Ask us. Some addresses we can reach, some we cannot. | $60 |
| Meet us at a location instead From anywhere. We will pick a spot that works for you. | Free |
The charge is per lesson, and it covers fuel and vehicle costs — nothing more. If it does not suit you, meet us at a location and pay nothing extra. Plenty of students do.
Enrollment
What it costs
One price for all six hours and the blue card. Nothing else is required.
You will need your student's classroom completion letter at enrollment. We cannot issue the blue card without it.
What happens next
After you enroll
We enter your student in the state system
Within 48 hours of payment and a classroom completion letter. Then we issue the blue card, usually on a Wednesday or a Sunday.
Your student takes the permit test
At a DVS exam station, with the blue card. They cannot sit the test without it.
You contact us to schedule
Once the permit is in hand, text or call and we will start booking the six hours around your family's schedule. This is also when any pickup charge is worked out.
Nothing happens until the permit exists. We cannot put a student behind the wheel without one — that is state law, not our policy. Enroll whenever you like, but the lessons start after the permit.