Minnehaha Academy (often abbreviated MA) is a private school in Minneapolis, Minnesota for students in preschool through 12th grade. It is owned and operated by the Northwest Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church. Located in the Cooper and Longfellow neighborhoods, Minnehaha also has a preschool through grade 5 site in the city of Bloomington. Students from Minneapolis, Saint Paul, and throughout the Twin Cities area attend Minnehaha Academy.

History

Minnehaha Academy was established in 1884 by Swedish immigrants and missionaries. Since 1913, Minnehaha has been located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on the banks of the Mississippi River. Minnehaha was a high school serving grades 9-12 until 1972, when grades 7 and 8 were added. In 1981, the South Campus was purchased and the Middle School was established with the addition of grade 6. The Lower School, grades 1-5, started in 1982. Kindergarten was added in 1985, and then preschool in 1995. The following year, Minnehaha expanded to another campus in Bloomington for preschool through grade 5. The new Athletic Center at North Campus was dedicated in 2002, and the new Chapel and Fine Arts Center in 2003. Renovation of the South Campus (lower and middle school) was completed in 2008.

Minnehaha Academy is a member of the Tri-Metro Conference and is known for its consistent winning seasons in girls' basketball, girls' soccer, and cross-country. Guido Kauls was Minnehaha's first soccer coach, holding the position from its beginnings in the 1960s until he retired in 2001, having accumulated 500 career victories. Academically, Minnehaha features teams that compete in regional math and science tournaments, as well as a small classical debate team.

The Minnehaha educational program, which begins at the Lower School in preschool and goes through the Upper School in 12th grade, sends many students on to both Minnesota-based colleges and universities and some very accomplished out-of-state schools including, but not limited to, Dartmouth, Carleton College, Georgetown, Princeton, Judson University, Illinois, The University of Chicago, Northwestern, Normandale Community College, the Eastman School of Music, University of British Columbia, Cornell, Yale and United States Air Force Academy.

Notable alumni

• Reynold B. Johnson (Class of 1925): Inventor and computer pioneer
• Homer Dupre Hagstrom (Class of 193x): Expert in surface physics, elected to National Academy of Sciences. [236345]
• C. Donald Peterson (Class of 1935): Justice, Minnesota Supreme Court, 1967-1986.[236346]
• Philip Brunelle (Class of 1961): Classical musician and founder of music group Vocalessence [236347]
• Melody Beattie (Class of 1962): self-help author.
• Rev. Mark Hanson (Class of 1964): Current Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and President of the Lutheran World Federation
• John Lundell (Class of 197x) : Minnesota Radio/Television personality and Traffic reporter[236348]
• Geoffrey Gage (Class of 1985): Founder and President of Geoffrey Carlson Gage Advertising, and part-owner of the Minnesota Wild NHL hockey team
• Joe Roche, (Class of 198x), Iraq War veteran and political commentator.
• Tom Carothers (Class of 1991): Editor-In-Chief, Vype — High School Sports Magazine
• Micah Watkins (Class of 1994): Former University of Minnesota Golden Gophers basketball player.
• Amy Sannes (Class of 1995): Competed in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy [236349]
• Leah McLean (Class of 1997): KSTP-TV news anchor [236350]
• Bryan Malley (Class of 1997) : Minnesota Christian Chronicle Editor [236351]
• Birungi Mutebi (Class of 1998) : Former Carleton College Knights soccer player. All time leader at the school in goals, points, and shots on goal. Currently working for the Minnesota Timberwolves. [236352]
• Matt Kretzman (Class of 1998) : Plays keyboard for indie rock band Tapes 'n Tapes. Performed on the David Letterman Show. Played at Lollapalooza 2007. [236353]

Trivia

• MA's yearbook is named "The Antler," with its Middle School counterpart the "Minneantler."
• MA's school newspaper is "The Talon," referring to the foot of the Redhawk mascot. It is a member of the High School National Ad Network.
• MA's quarterly news publication for parents and alumni is called "The Arrow," despite recent changes to names related to the old mascot.
• Minnehaha's current mascot, the Redhawk, was chosen in 1991 when the previous mascot, the Indian, was deemed to be politically incorrect. Minnehaha was without a mascot from 1990 until the Fall of 1991.
• In 2005, one of Minnehaha's students, Sam Reinhardt, scored a perfect SAT score while another, Adrian Wood-Smith scored a perfect ACT score. <--WHO put="" this="" here?=""></--WHO>
• Notable rivals include Breck School and De La Salle and Carlson school of recovering alcoholics.
• Student favorites include economics teacher David Hoffner and the recently retired history zen master David Glenn.

References

External links

• Minnehaha Academy Website
• North Campus