Highland Park High School (Minnesota)

Highland Park Senior High School
Address
1015 Snelling Avenue South Saint Paul , Minnesota 55116 United States
Coordinates	44°54′39″N93°10′1″W / 44.91083°N 93.16694°W / 44.91083; -93.16694
Information
Type	Public
Motto	Challenge, Envision, Achieve
Established	1964
School district	Saint Paul Public Schools
Superintendent	Dr. John Thein (interim)
Principal	Dr. Winston Tucker
Grades	9–12
Enrollment	1,408 (2024–2025)
Campus	Urban
Color(s)	Red and White
Athletics conference	Saint Paul City Conference
Mascot	Scots
Website	https://highlandsr.spps.org/

Highland Park Senior High School is a public secondary school in Saint Paul, Minnesota serving grades 9 through 12. It is located in the Highland Park neighborhood.

The school offers the International Baccalaureate program. ^[1] It is a national Blue Ribbon School. Newsweek ranked the school #973 in their "2005 List of the 1200 Top High Schools in America." ^[2]

Academics

The school has received grants from the Bush Foundation and Gates Foundation to develop the Small Learning Communities model. Motivated students in all three Communities may take International Baccalaureate courses.

Languages

Highland Park offers a number of foreign languages, including: ^[3]

• Spanish, including the secondary component of Saint Paul Public Schools' Spanish immersion program.
• French
• Mandarin Chinese, including Chinese immersion program.
• Formerly American Sign Language; ASL was offered in the connecting Highland Park Junior High School, however the language does not continue into the high school, and the immersion program for deaf students was removed in 2008.

Athletics

Highland Park has enjoyed moderate success in its athletic program. The boys basketball team qualified for the state championship several times in the 1970s before winning the class AAAA state championship in 1999. The girls basketball team made two state tournament runs in 1985 and 1986, finishing second in the 1986 class AA state championship.

As of 2007, Highland Park had also won two conference titles for football, six for girls basketball, eight in boys basketball, four for wrestling, including three in a row from 2005 to 2007, five for baseball and one for boys hockey. The school also boasted a soccer team that won the conference 4 straight years 2003-07. Tony Levine played wide receiver for the football team and was chosen for the Minnesota All-State team his senior year, in 1991. The Highland Park girls cross country & nordic skiing teams have also won several championships, respectively. ^[4]

The baseball team coached by Peter Brown won the Saint Paul City Conference from 2011–13 and held the second-longest winning streak in conference play in the state of Minnesota. ^[5]

Campus

The Eastern side of Highland Park Senior High as seen from Snelling Avenue.

Highland is connected to Highland Park Middle School, a 1958 Miesian building.

Mattocks Schoolhouse is a historic landmark now used as part of Highland Park's facilities. The one room limestone building, originally called Webster School Number 9, was built in 1871. The building became part of the Saint Paul Public Schools system in 1887 and was renamed at that time. For thirty years the building served as an American Legion post before being moved to its current location in 1964 after residing one mile north of the high school. The classroom has most recently been used for Spanish classes. ^{[6] [7] [8]} Mattocks Schoolhouse is "essentially a Greek Revival building with some Italianate details." ^{[9] [10]}

Demographics

As of the 2023-2024 school year, the school's enrollment is 1456. 36% of students are White, 22% are African American, 12% are Asian American, 23% are Hispanic American, 7% are Multiracial and 1% are American Indian. ^[11] In addition, 11% are English language learners, 8% are in Special Education programs, and 46% are eligible for the free and reduced lunch program. The student-to-teacher ratio is 24:1. ^[12]

Enrollment profile	2023-24 [13]	2022-23 [13]	2021-22 [13]	2020-21 [13]	2019-20 [13]	2018-19 [13]	2017-18 [13]
White	36%	38%	36%	37%	36%	36%	38%
Black or African American	22%	21%	22%	23%	22%	23%	22%
Asian	12%	11%	13%	14%	15%	15%	17%
Hispanic or Latino	23%	23%	22%	22%	23%	23%	23%
American Indian	1%	<1%	<1%	1%	1%	1%	1%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander	<1%	<1%	<1%	-	-	-	-
Multiracial	7%	6%	7%	4%	4%	3%	2%

Notable alumni

Duane Carey

Emily Larson

Tony Levine

• Dick Cohen, Minnesota state senator (DFL) (1967) ^[14]
• Steven Greenberg, musician and record producer (1968) ^[15]
• Debbie Friedman, singer/songwriter (1969) ^[14]
• Earl Grinols, Distinguished Professor Economics (Baylor University) (1969) ^[16]
• Jack Morris, Hall of Fame Major League Baseball pitcher (1973) ^[14]
• Duane G. Carey, former U.S. astronaut (1975) ^[17]
• T.D. Mischke, radio personality (1980)
• Emily Larson, Mayor of Duluth, Minnesota (1991) ^[15]
• Tony Levine, former head coach for the Houston Cougars football team (1991)
• Eyedea, born Micheal Larsen, rapper (1999) ^[18]

References

1. "Highland Park Senior High School". International Baccalaureate Organization.
2. "The Top of the Class". The complete list of the 1,200 top U.S. schools. MSNBC. 2007. Archived from the original on March 14, 2007. Retrieved May 23, 2007.
3. "World Languages". Highland Park High School. Retrieved January 31, 2012.
4. Levine travels lengthy path to UH's top job - The Daily Cougar
5. "Saint Paul City Conference". Saint Paul Public Schools. March 15, 2009. Archived from the original on March 27, 2009. Retrieved March 16, 2009.
6. "Mattocks Schoolhouse". Saint Paul Public School System. Retrieved March 31, 2007.
7. Millett, Larry (2007). AIA Guide to the Twin Cities: The Essential Source on the Architecture of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Minnesota Historical Society Press. pp. 527–530. ISBN   978-0-87351-540-5.
8. "Mattock School, Randolph Street & Snelling Avenue, Saint Paul, Ramsey County, MN". Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey. Library of Congress. Retrieved January 31, 2012.
9. Gebhard, David; Martinson, Tom (1977). A Guide to the Architecture of Minnesota. Minneapolis: Published by the University of Minnesota Press for the University Gallery of the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Society of Architects. pp.  113. ISBN   0-8166-0773-7.
10. Sigvertson, Jene T. From the Past to the Present: An Inventory of Saint Paul Public School Facilities (PDF). Saint Paul Public Schools. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 1, 2006.
11. All racial breakdowns are how students "identify themselves."
12. "SPPS Official Enrollment". October 1, 2023.
13. "Saint Paul Public Schools: Official Enrollment". Saint Paul Public School. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
14. "Hall of Fame".
15. "Alumni Association / Hall of Fame". www.spps.org. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
16. Grinols, Earl. "Baylor Business Directory".
17. "Famous Alumni". Saint Paul Public Schools. Retrieved August 16, 2007.
18. Scholtes, Peter S. (September 12, 2001). "What's the Big Eyedea?". City Pages. Archived from the original on January 12, 2008. Retrieved September 26, 2007.

External links

• Highland Park Senior High School