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Community Corner

From the Vaults: Hopkins Schools Through the Ages

School district has humble beginnings, grows to a nationally known education hub.

Artifact: The location of the first Hopkins Senior High School—in between 15th and 16th avenues, on the south side of what is now Mainstreet. The first higher learning school in the area, the school system has grown by leaps and bounds since.

Back-story: Hopkins’ first school was built in 1862. This one-room, one teacher schoolhouse served the needs of students ranging from 6 to 20 years old. The teacher, a Civil War veteran named Henry Hicks, went on to serve as Hennepin County Sherriff and in his later years was a District Court Judge.

New schools were soon needed, and in 1888 a brick schoolhouse was added north of Excelsior Boulevard on Ninth Avenue North. In the next 15 years the first school was expanded and a second building was added. At the time, these two buildings housed elementary and junior high classes. In order to satiate the needs of those seeking high school diplomas, a two-year high school program was added, with the first class graduating in 1898. By 1926, this school was vacated in favor of a new building.

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After securing funds, this new school on the north side of Mainstreet in-between 13th and 14th avenues was erected in 1925. The school featured an auditorium and full size basketball court, along with the districts first lunchroom, as school lunch became a staple for children in the mid 1930’s. As time went on, the elementary school children were moved to nearby Katherine Curren Elementary School and two new junior highs were built—North (opened in 1959) and West Junior High (1967.) From this time until it was closed in 1977, the former elementary and junior high hub was known as South Junior High.

But before these schools were founded, the first high school was built. At the time, Harley Hopkins, Eden Prairie, Oak Knoll, Shady Oak, Burwell as well as Glen Lake were all separate school districts. Upon completion of the new high school, all six districts sent their seventh through 12th graders to this campus. At first, it was a simple college prep curriculum, however, more specialized courses such as cooking, sewing, typing and agriculture were soon added. After nearly 50 years, a new high school (currently Eisenhower Community Center) opened in 1956.

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With population booming in the area, there was need for a second high school in addition to Eisenhower. In 1970, Lindbergh High School opened on Cedar Lake Rd. The high school was built on the same campus as Tanglen Elementary and North Junior High. After 1982, Lindbergh High School became simply Hopkins High School after Eisenhower ended its high school activities.

Currently, Hopkins School District No.270 students and families have six elementary schools (, , , , and ,) two junior highs ( and Junior High) and one high school ().

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