Edina High School is a four-year

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

located in

Edina, Minnesota Edina ( ) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States and a first-ring suburb of Minneapolis. The population was 53,494 at the 2020 census, making it the 18th most populous city in Minnesota. Edina began as a small farming and mil ...

, United States, a suburb of

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. The current student population is 2,683. Edina High School was ranked as 486th best public high school in the United States according to U.S. News & World Report. Minnesota Department of Education certified Edina as a "Five Star School" and the U. S. Department of Education recognized it as a "National School of Excellence". ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'' ranked the school #89 in their "List of the 1,200 Top High Schools in America", and the

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

Foundation selected it as one of forty-two "Signature Schools" recognizing Edina's contributions to music education. Ninety-five percent of seniors go on to college and eighty-six percent finish in five years. 30% of Edina graduates responded in a recent survey that they conducted 10 years after graduation they had completed

graduate school Postgraduate or graduate education refers to Academic degree, academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by higher education, post-secondary students who have earned an Undergraduate education, un ...

degrees or were pursuing graduate degrees. A second high school, Edina West High School, opened in fall 1972, next to Valley View Junior High School, and Edina High School was renamed Edina East High School. Due to declining student enrollment, the two schools combined eight years later. Edina East closed in spring 1981, and the building eventually became the Edina Community Center, the district administrative offices and Welcome Center, and the home of Normandale Elementary school, while Edina West became Edina High School.

History

Before a high school opened in Edina, students looking to extend their education past eighth grade had to find their way down to the old Central High School at 4th Avenue and South 11th Street in

.Sullivan, Joe. (Spring 2003) "144-year-old Edina Public School System has a Proud Heritage". ''About Town.'' (Official Magazine of the City of Edina
PDF
. p. 8-16. By the 1940s some Edina students in grades 10 through 12 attended private high schools. Of those who could not afford to attend a private high school, some were enrolled at St. Louis Park High School while many others were being "farmed out" to West and Southwest High Schools in Minneapolis. In 1941, Minneapolis schools raised their tuition for out-of-city students, and despite the increase, Edina residents voted to pay the increased tuition rather than build their own high school. During the mid-1940s, support for an Edina-Morningside junior and senior high school was increasing. However,

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the resulting shortage of building materials delayed construction of the Edina-Morningside Junior and Edina-Morningside Senior High School. But after the war, support for the new school began to resurface. Two sites for the new school had the most support. One was on the property that is currently occupied by the Edina Country Club near 50th Street and Wooddale Avenue and the other was at West 56th Street and Normandale Road. Although the 50th and Wooddale site was the center of the village's population at the time, the 56th and Normandale site was nearer to the school district's geographic center and was the eventual site chosen to build the new school. The first high school to open in Edina, later known as Edina East, is now the site of the Edina Community Center and Normandale Elementary School. It was built as a combination high school/junior high. A $1.25 million school bond issue was passed in 1946 by the residents of Edina and ground was broken in October 1947. A year later the school was dedicated. It was not until the fall of 1949 that classes began and it was at that time that the student body chose the school colors (green and white) and the school mascot, the Hornet. The school had 28 classrooms, 11 special rooms and

laboratories A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratory services are provided in a variety of settings: physici ...

, a

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

and a special radio room. In 1952, one year after the first class graduated, a

gym A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational i ...

nasium and

auditorium An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theatres, the number of auditoria (or auditoriums) is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoria can be found in entertainment venues, community ...

were added to the building. In the 1960s, the high school was becoming overcrowded. As a result, on October 20, 1970, a $9.255 million bond issue was approved by voters to construct a new high school attached to Valley View Junior High School. Construction of the new high school began on May 24, 1971 and the school was opened in the fall of 1972. The Edina East High School retained the "Hornets" and Edina West High School became the "Cougars". In 1981 Edina East was closed and Edina West was renamed Edina High School. The newly unified school decided on the "Hornets" nickname. Part of the old high school building was converted to the Edina kindergarten center in 1987 and the Edina Senior Center. As of 2015, the building is used as a community center, housing the Normandale French Immersion K-5 elementary school, the school district's main offices and the school district's Welcome Center. In November 2003, city of Edina residents passed an $85.8 million

bond Bond or bonds may refer to: Common meanings * Bond (finance), a type of debt security * Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States * Chemical bond, the attraction of atoms, ions or molecules to form chemica ...

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

to renovate all school facilities in the district, with the high school undergoing major renovations. Construction began on the high school in May 2004 and was completed in 2007. Edina High School completed its $60 million renovations in September 2017. As a result, Edina High School now contains space to host grades 9-12 instead of grades 10-12.

Extracurricular

*The school yearbook is titled ''Whigrean''. *The school newspaper is ''Zephyrus'', and is a member of the

High School National Ad Network The American Society of News Editors (ASNE) was a membership organization for editors, producers or directors in charge of journalistic organizations or departments, deans or faculty at university journalism schools, and leaders and faculty of ...

*The school has a student-published literary arts magazine entitled ''Images'' *Theater: In 2011, Edina was the first high school in Minnesota to perform on the Main Stage of the

International Thespian Festival The International Thespian Festival is an annual week-long theatre festival that brings together U.S. high school theatre clubs, thespian troupes, and programs. Organized by the International Thespian Society, it was held annually in late June on ...

in over forty years, where they performed ''

Anything Goes ''Anything Goes'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap ant ...

''. In 2013, they brought " Fiddler on the Roof" to the Main Stage at the

. In 2016, they were one of the first high schools in the nation to perform a

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

-sponsored show called "

Peter and the Starcatcher ''Peter and the Starcatcher'' is a play based on the 2004 novel '' Peter and the Starcatchers'' by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, adapted for the stage by Rick Elice. The play provides a backstory for the characters of Peter Pan, Mrs Darling, Ti ...

", which they once again brought to the Main Stage. In 2018, they brought " The Visit" to the Main Stage at the

. *Debate: Edina has a nationally recognized debate team, which has been nationally ranked in the recent past (16th in 2009-10 and 19th in 2010-11) *Edina has a nationally recognized

FIRST Robotics Competition FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is an international high school robotics competition. Each year, teams of high school students, coaches, and mentors work during a six-week period to build robots capable of competing in that year's game that weig ...

Team: Team 1816, "The Green Machine". They won the FIRST Championship Chairman's Award, the highest honor a robotics team can receive, earning them a spot in the Hall of Fame at the 2019 FIRST Championship *Edina High School has had an Ultimate Frisbee program since 2003 that competes both locally in the Minnesota Ultimate High School League, and nationally through USA Ultimate-sanctioned tournaments. The Boys & Girls teams have combined to win a state record 10 State Championships. Girls Varsity in 2014, 2019, 2021 and 2022 and Boys Varsity in 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2022.

Athletics

Edina High School is a member of the

Lake Conference The Lake Conference a high school athletic conference with seven member high schools in the western and southwestern suburbs of the Twin Cities, Minnesota. It is affiliated with the Minnesota State High School League. History The Lake Conferenc ...

of the

Minnesota State High School League The Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) is a voluntary, non-profit association for the support and governance of interscholastic activities at high schools in Minnesota, United States. The association supports interscholastic athletics an ...

. Previously a member of the Lake Conference and the Classic Lake Conference, the school joined the new Lake Conference in 2010. Edina claims 197 athletic high school state championships, a state record, with most of them earned in

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

, and boys

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

. In 2000, the school was recognized as the first school in the state of Minnesota to win more than 100 state championships. In 2019, the record was broken for most state championships won in a school year as Edina claimed 8 titles. The boys' hockey team has won a state-record thirteen championships (including three titles by Edina East), eight under Willard Ikola alone. Edina held the record for most consecutive state championships in girls tennis with fifteen from 1978 to 1992. In 2012, Edina broke their own record by winning nineteen straight state championships from 1997 to 2015. Edina was seeded as the underdog in the 2015 state tournament, but proved their greatness as they defeated Prior Lake in the finals. Edina girls tennis is often referred to as "EGT". In 2005, Sports Illustrated ranked Edina as the 8th best sports program in the United States. Key: E = Edina East, W = Edina West, * = Not included in MSHSL count # Prior to the inception of the

football tournament, the Edina Hornets were ranked #1 in the state for the following years: 1952, 1953, 1955, 1957, 1960, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1971 # Denotes state record # The 1999 state championship was a tie between Eden Prairie High School and Edina High School; this was the first tie at a state championship in Minnesota

Demographics

The class of 2014 was 82% White, 6% American Asian/Pacific Islander, 5% Black/African-American, 4% Hispanic/Latino, 2% Other, and 1% Native American. The class was also 51% Male, 48.9% Female, and 0.2% Transgender.

Notable alumni

Business

* Roy J. Bostock (Class of 1958), business executive * Robert Bruss (Class of 1958), lawyer, real estate broker, author, and newspaper columnist * Dave MacLennan (Class of 1977) Current CEO of Cargill Edina-East * Brian J. Dunn (Class of 1978), former CEO of Best Buy *

Ron Johnson Ronald Harold Johnson (born April 8, 1955) is an American accountant, businessman, and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Wisconsin, a seat he has held since 2011. A Republican, Johnson was first elected to the U.S. S ...

(Class of 1977), former CEO of J.C. Penney, former Senior Vice President of Retail Operations at

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...

Politics

(Class of 1973) (Attended), Current Republican Senator of Wisconsin * Mary Anderson Pawlenty (Class of 1979), Minnesota District Court Judge and wife of Former Minnesota Governor

Tim Pawlenty Timothy James Pawlenty (; born November 27, 1960) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served as the 39th governor of Minnesota from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party, Pawlenty served in the Minnesota House o ...

* Erin Matson (Class of 1998), Action Vice President of the National Organization for Women

Sports

* Jeff Wright (Class of 1967), former safety with the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

* Bill Nyrop (Class of 1970), a professional hockey player who played for the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

and was a member of three

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

winning teams (

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

, 1977, and 1978) * Paul Siebert (Class of 1971), Major League Baseball pitcher for

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

, and

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

. * Brian Burke (Class of 1973), General Manager and executive VP,

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

and 2010 United States Men's Olympic Ice Hockey Silver Medalist Team * Gord Hampson (Class of 1977), retired

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

player. * Karl Mecklenburg (Class of 1978 West), NFL Pro-Bowl linebacker with the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

* Greg Olson (Class of 1979), former catcher for the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

* Chris Perry (Class of 1980), professional golfer with one

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...

victory *

Paul Ranheim Paul Stephen Ranheim (born January 25, 1966) is an American former professional ice hockey forward who played 15 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Calgary Flames, Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes, Philadelphia Flyers and P ...

(Class of 1984), professional hockey player who played for Calgary, Hartford, Carolina, Philadelphia, and Phoenix from 1988 to 2003 *

Jenny Schmidgall-Potter Jennifer Lynn Schmidgall-Potter (born January 12, 1979) is an American ice hockey player. She is a member of the United States women's national ice hockey team. She won a gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics, silver medals at the 2002 Winter Ol ...

(Class of 1997), American ice hockey player and gold medalist at the 1998 Nagano Games *

Hilary Lunke Hilary Lunke (born Hilary Homeyer on June 7, 1979) is a retired American professional golfer best known for winning the 2003 U.S. Women's Open. Homeyer was born in Edina, Minnesota. She attended Stanford University and became a member of the ...

(Class of 1997), American professional golfer, winner of the 2003

U.S. Women's Open The U.S. Women's Open, one of 15 national golf championships conducted by the United States Golf Association (USGA), is the oldest of the LPGA Tour's five major championships, which includes the Chevron Championship, Women's PGA Championship, W ...

Adam Goldberg Adam Charles Goldberg (born October 25, 1970) is an American character actor, filmmaker, musician, and photographer. Known for his supporting roles in film and television, Goldberg has appeared in films such as '' Dazed and Confused'', '' Saving ...

(Class of 1998), former NFL player * David Ostlund (Class of 1999), Semi-Professional

World's Strongest Man The World's Strongest Man is an international Strongman competition held every year. Organized by American event management company IMG, a subsidiary of Endeavor, it is broadcast in the US during summers and in the UK around the end of Decem ...

competitor * Kaylin Richardson (Class of 2003),

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

and 2010 Olympic skier * Anders Lee (Class of 2009), Professional Hockey Player; team captain of the New York Islanders beginning in 2018. * Jordan Thompson (Class of 2015), professional volleyball player and member of the United States national team that won the gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics. * Kieffer Bellows (Class of 2016), Professional Hockey Player who currently plays for the New York Islanders and previously played for

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

from 2016-2017. * Tommy Doyle (Class of 2016), Professional football player for the NFL's

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

. *Mike Rallis (Class of 2007), professional wrestler currently signed to WWE under the ring name

Madcap Moss Michael Carter Rallis (born October 10, 1989) is an American professional wrestler and former college football player. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Madcap Moss. Early life Rallis ...

Entertainment

Stan Freese Stanford Freese is an American tuba player and musical director who is the talent casting and booking director with Disney Entertainment Productions (The Walt Disney Company). Born in Minnesota, Freese has worked as a musical director at the ...

(Class of 1962), tuba player, band director, and talent booking and casting director with

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

Julia Duffy Julia Margaret Duffy (née Hinds; June 27, 1951) is an American film, stage, and television actress. She began her career in television, appearing in minor guest roles before being cast in the role of Penny Davis in the series '' The Doctors'' fr ...

(Class of 1969), actress * Barbara Peterson Burwell (Class of 1972),

Miss USA Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020, ...

1976 *

David Bloom David Jerome Bloom (May 22, 1963 – April 6, 2003) was an American television journalist (co-anchor of ''Weekend Today'' and reporter) until his sudden death in 2003 after a deep vein thrombosis (DVT) became a pulmonary embolism. Early an ...

(Class of 1981), news reporter, NBC *

Christopher Straub Christopher Straub is a fashion designer who was a contestant on season 6 of the competitive reality show ''Project Runway'' and also appeared on season 1 of the competitive reality show '' Models of the Runway'' as the designer for the model ...

(Class of 1997), contestant on the television show

Project Runway ''Project Runway'' is an American reality television series that premiered on Bravo on December 1, 2004. The series focuses on fashion design. The contestants compete with each other to create the best clothes and are restricted by time, mater ...

; finished fifth in the sixth season *

Paris Bennett Paris Ana'is Bennett (born August 21, 1988) is an American singer who finished in fifth place on the fifth season of the reality television talent show, ''American Idol''. Biography Early years Bennett was born in Rockford, Illinois, to Jamec ...

(Class of 2004) (through 11th grade), contestant on the television show

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

; finished fifth in the fifth season

References

External links

Edina High School websiteEdina School District 273
{{authority control Buildings and structures in Edina, Minnesota Educational institutions established in 1949 Public high schools in Minnesota Schools in Hennepin County, Minnesota 1949 establishments in Minnesota *