Saint Paul, Minnesota contains many educational institutions from grade school to high school, college and beyond. A number of educational "firsts" have happened in Saint Paul. Hamline University, the first and oldest college in Minnesota, was founded in Saint Paul in 1854. [1] [2] In 1991, Minnesota became the first state in the United States to pass legislation allowing the existence of charter schools. The following year, the first charter school in the nation, City Academy High School, was established in Saint Paul. [3] The oldest library in Minnesota, the Minnesota State Law Library, was opened in 1849. [4]
Saint Paul Public Schools is the school district that serves the entire city. It is the state's second largest school district with approximately 38,000 students. The district is also one of the most diverse in Minnesota.
There are also many charter schools that are run separately from the Saint Paul Public Schools, but are administered by the Minnesota Department of Education. 21 charter schools currently operate in Saint Paul. [5]
Saint Paul has numerous private schools, including non-sectarian, Jewish, Roman Catholic, and Protestant. The Minnesota Department of Education has no authority over private school operations; private schools may or may not be accredited, and achievement tests are not required for private school graduating seniors. Many private schools will obtain accreditation and perform achievement tests as a means of demonstrating that the school is genuinely interested in educational performance. Saint Paul is currently home to 38 private schools. [6]
In addition, Catholic schools in Saint Paul are operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. Three high schools and fourteen elementary schools are overseen by the archdiocese. [7]
Saint Paul is second in the United States in the number of higher education institutions per capita. [35]
Saint Paul is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center of Minnesota's government. The Minnesota State Capitol and the state government offices all sit on a hill close to the city's downtown district. One of the oldest cities in Minnesota, Saint Paul has several historic neighborhoods and landmarks, such as the Summit Avenue Neighborhood, the James J. Hill House, and the Cathedral of Saint Paul. Like the adjacent city of Minneapolis, Saint Paul is known for its cold, snowy winters and humid summers.
Dakota County is the third-most populous county in the U.S. state of Minnesota, located in the east central portion of the state. As of the 2020 census, the population was 439,882. The population of Dakota County was estimated to be 443,341 in 2022. The county seat is Hastings. Dakota County is named for the Dakota Sioux tribal bands who inhabited the area. The name is recorded as "Dahkotah" in the United States Census records until 1851. Dakota County is included in the Minneapolis–St. Paul–Bloomington, MN–WI Metropolitan Statistical Area, the sixteenth largest metropolitan area in the United States with about 3.64 million residents. The largest city in Dakota County is the city of Lakeville, the eleventh-largest city in Minnesota and sixth-largest Twin Cities suburb. The county is bordered by the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers on the north, and the state of Wisconsin on the east.
Minneapolis–Saint Paul is a metropolitan area in the Upper Midwestern United States centered around the confluence of the Mississippi, Minnesota and St. Croix rivers in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is commonly known as the Twin Cities after the area's two largest cities, Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Minnesotans often refer to the two together simply as "the cities". It is Minnesota's economic, cultural, and political center.
Roseville is a city in Ramsey County, Minnesota, United States. It is one of two Twin Cities suburbs that are adjacent to both Saint Paul and Minneapolis. The land comprising Falcon Heights, Lauderdale, and southern Roseville was unincorporated until Roseville incorporated in 1948 and Falcon Heights and Lauderdale incorporated in 1949. The population was 36,254 at the 2020 census.
Winona is a city in and the county seat of Winona County, Minnesota, United States. Located in bluff country on the Mississippi River, its most noticeable physical landmark is Sugar Loaf. The city is named after legendary figure Winona, who some sources claimed was the first-born daughter of Chief Wapasha of the Dakota people. The population was 25,948 at the 2020 census.
Hamline University is a private university in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1854, Hamline is the oldest university in Minnesota, the first coeducational university in the state, and is one of five Associated Colleges of the Twin Cities. The university is named after Bishop Leonidas Lent Hamline of the United Methodist Church. As of 2017, Hamline had 2,117 undergraduate students and 1,668 graduate students.
The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. It is led by an archbishop who administers the archdiocese from the cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. The archbishop has both a cathedral and co-cathedral: the mother church, the Cathedral of Saint Paul in Saint Paul, and the co-cathedral, the Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis.
Thomas Langdon Grace was an American prelate who served as the second Roman Catholic Bishop of Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Academy of Holy Angels (AHA) is a private, Catholic, coeducational high school in Richfield, Minnesota. Located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, the nationally recognized college-preparatory school educates more than 600 students each year, with students in grades nine through twelve coming from across the Twin Cities metropolitan area.
Saint Paul Central High School is the oldest continuously operating high school in the state of Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1866 in downtown Saint Paul, Central has educated many leaders in business, government, literature, arts, sciences, and education throughout the state of Minnesota and the United States.
Highland Park is a neighborhood in the southwestern corner of Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Also known as Highland District Council, it lies along the Mississippi River just north of Fort Snelling and across the river from Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport. According to the 2000 census Highland Park had a population of 23,202.
Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) or Special School District Number 1 is a public school district serving students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Minneapolis Public Schools enrolls 36,370 students in public primary and secondary schools. The district administers about one hundred public schools including forty-five elementary schools, seven middle schools, seven high schools, eight special education schools, eight alternative schools, nineteen contract alternative schools, and five charter schools. With authority granted by the state legislature, the school board makes policy, selects the superintendent, and oversees the district's budget, curriculum, personnel, and facilities. Students speak ninety different languages at home and most school communications are printed in English, Hmong, Spanish, and Somali.
Saint Paul Public Schools (SPPS) is a school district (ISD #625) that operates in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Saint Paul, Minnesota is noted for its neighborhoods. The city has been called "fifteen small towns with one mayor", owing to the neighborhood-based life of much of the city. Saint Paul is partially governed by not 15 but 17 City Districts.
North Community High School, or simply Minneapolis North, is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The school has existed for over 120 years in several buildings all located on the city's northside. Minneapolis North once had a predominantly Jewish student body but by 1982, the school and the neighborhood it is located in had become mostly African American. Desegregation efforts, such as magnet school programs, have attempted to attract students from throughout Minneapolis and nearby suburbs. KBEM-FM, established by Minneapolis Public Schools in 1970, is operated partially by North students and has been located at the school since 1985.
Saint Paul is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, the county seat of Ramsey County, and the state capital of Minnesota. The origin and growth of the city were spurred by the proximity of Fort Snelling, the first major United States military installation in the area, as well as by the city's location on the northernmost navigable port of the Upper Mississippi River.
Gloria June Tew was an American abstract sculptor known for her work in marble, bronze and steel. Tew's sculptures are found in institutions, museums, churches and private collections including, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden. She resided in Minneapolis.
Michael Price, was a 20th-century sculptor specializing in public art. His best known installation is his sculpture of F. Scott Fitzgerald, installed in 1996 in Rice Park, Saint Paul, Minnesota to commemorate Fitzgerald's 100th birthday. The original head from this piece—replaced by Price prior to installation—can be seen at the end of the 2006 movie, A Prairie Home Companion.
Union Park is a neighborhood in Saint Paul in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Created as a merger of several historic neighborhoods including Merriam Park, Snelling-Hamline, Parts of Midway, Densoyer Park, and Lexington-Hamline, it is bordered by University Avenue on the north, Lexington Parkway on the east, Summit Avenue on the south, and the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area on the west. Despite the merger, many of the historic neighborhoods hold onto their original identity, especially in Lexington-Hamline and Merriam Park.