Minnehaha Academy is a traditional college preparatory school that offers pre-K to grade 12…read moreeducation. MA has two beautiful campuses on the bluffs of the Mississippi River with spacious grounds, with about 12 acres each. MA, like many east coast prep schools, was founded by Protestants from Europe. Opening in 1913, the school is affiliated with the Covenant Church (a historic branch the Lutheran Church that is now a separate denomination). MA has a strong commitment to faith with weekly chapel services and taking a traditional approach to teaching religion by having specific religious classes and bringing the topic of religion into other classes as well. This is done with other subjects as well, since many of the humanities and sciences overlap--for example you could have a discussion in history class about science or literature; in this way the student is able to understand the whole story from multiple angles and gain a deeper understanding of the world. The schools commitment to academics is extraordinary, boasting one of the best AP programs in the state, and if the class doesn't have an AP test then the school offers alternatives such as the College in the Schools program where students take a class from the University of Minnesota from one of their teachers and earn college credit. The school has also partnered with various scientific institutions to send a project to the International Space Station each year, joining only two other high schools in the nation that have this honor. The language department is also very excellent offering French, Latin, Spanish and Chinese; all of which start out at high school levels (open to middle school students) and go through college levels. The teachers are highly educated and care very deeply about the students and for many, remain mentors throughout their time at the Academy and their future. Most of the teachers hold masters or doctorate degrees in their area of study. The community of students is kind and caring for each other, and many long lasting friendships are formed. The school also has excellent food and offers breakfast and lunch. MA has a head and sous chef who create healthy and delicious meals and snacks for the students. Breakfast generally has cereal, scones, sandwiches, eggs, pancakes, bacon, et cetera. Lunch offers a salad bar, made to order options, homemade soups and various options including fresh carved pork, turkey, pastas and chicken. The chefs are friendly and take student suggestions seriously and work hard to make the best food possible. The school is also very devoted to the arts and has a entire fine arts center that includes a woodshop, dark room, art room, pottery studio, band room, orchestra room, private practice rooms, art gallery, scene shop, costume shop, concert hall/theater. The school features several performance ensembles including a Concert Band, Symphonic Wind Ensemble, String Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra, Men's Choir, Women's Chorale, Concert Choir and Madrigal singers. Each ensemble has earned top marks at state. The Symphonic Wind Ensemble and Concert Choir go on tour, alternating year to year. The tour locations have included: Prague, Slovakia, Salzburg, Sweden, Italy, Germany, Washington D.C., Chicago among other locations. In the year the ensembles are on break from the tour, they put on variety shows: the bands perform the pops concert and the choirs perform a medieval dinner. The school puts on three plays: musical, play and student run show; each has one various state and sometimes national awards. The school also has top notch athletic facilities including separate soccer and football fields, a full size ice arena, two full size gyms, wrestling room and a weight room. MA's athletic teams have won a combined 4 state championships in the past decade alone and provide very supportive C, JV, and Varsity teams. The school also has many organizations and academic teams. The Debate team, which I captained during my time is one of the state's best, being the only school to have a pair of debaters go to the varsity finals back to back (my partner and I), bringing home a state championship and a 2nd place trophy. The school also offers clubs centering around the environment, music, literature, journalism and writing. The school newspaper and yearbook have won various national awards for journalism, photography, layout, overall achievement, etc. MA really helps students achieve and builds a strong foundation for college through curriculum, advanced academics, supportive staff, and graduation requirements that are similar to most colleges. Many of the students attend private 4 year institutions including St. Olaf, Carlton, Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Boston College, Vanderbilt, University of Chicago, Northwestern and more. Minnehaha Academy has nurtured the minds of some of Minnesota's best students. MA goes farther than the other prep schools in Minnesota: it truly is the place where youth meet truth.

From the owner: The original incorporation from 1905 stated: "The purpose of this institution shall be to furnish…read moreyoung men and women with the essential elements of a liberal education, and to foster the development of character under the personal influence of Christian teachers." On Monday, Sept. 15, 1913, Minnehaha Academy welcomed its first class of high school students. Grades 7 and 8 were added in 1972. In 1981, the land for the South Campus was purchased and a chapel was erected. By 1982, the Lower School served students in Grades 1 through 5. Kindergarten was added in 1985 and preschool in 1995. Students graduate from Minnehaha Academy prepared to excel in any number of fields. Some of our alumni include inventors, a Supreme Court Justice, Authors, War Veterans, an Olympian, Musicians, and many others in notable careers.

It's been years since I last stepped nto Two Rivers High School, and WOW has it completely changed!…read moreI came for a community baking class and got lost at first, haha. The school has been completely updated: brighter, modern, and honestly impressive. The baking class was fun and affordable. The kitchen space was HUGE and had industrial equipment.... I was in complete awe! There's plenty of parking in the parking lot on site. Overall, it was a wonderful midweek experience and I look forward to the next class here.

horrible experience new 5 minute tardy rule is understandable for everything BUT first hour. dosent…read moremake sense for students to be marked absent for being marked absent for their first hour of the day

Excellent academics. Strong core mission. If you are looking for a school dedicated to turning boys…read moreinto young men of character, STA is the place.

Very mid... This…read moreschool is very meh. The education is good but but all of the people there seem wacky. Not a huge fan of the crowd at CDH. They are very loud and cliquey. A lot of gossip and drama happens and it's a lot. But that's with any high school you go to.

We came here to help deliver meals on wheels on thanksgiving day…read more I think I would have loved being a HS student here. All stone and old unlike my mid 60's faux ranch style HS...

Attending a concert at this fine school I was deeply impressed with a tour and explanation of the…read moreprograms and achievements of this institution. In a beautiful setting in a scenic St Paul neighborhood there is a large parking lot with school next to the church. I have relations that attend this place and they are thriving. The music program, which I saw, is very professional providing a great variety of different music genres which surprised me. A jazzed up version of the Sesame Street theme would have Ella Fitzgerald beaming.

This church and school is tucked away on a side street in the heart of the Highland Park area in…read moreSaint Paul. They offer reconciliation before each daily mass , which is offered twice a day Monday through Friday. They have a vibrant community and plenty of activities for all age groups. If you are new to the area, this is a great community with lots of opportunities to meet good hearted people!

It is not a good school if you want you children to learn something this school has smoking…read moreskipping and more the food is bad

too many pools and gyms not enough cafeteria perfect amount of classrooms. inconsistent heating…read morethroughout the building and no air conditioning.

If you are a devout and doctrinaire member of the WELS, you will not agree with what I have to say…read morehere. Read it anyways. Opposing views aren't evil. Different isn't evil. I am a former student who was born and raised in the WELS. This school and the denomination (WELS) it is affiliated with are anti-gay. While attending SCLHS, despite multiple attempts to speak to administration, nothing was ever done about the pervasive anti-gay bullying here, to my knowledge. It certainly didn't get any better for me. Teachers and coaches didn't do much, if anything to discourage it. This was a decade ago, but based on conversations with other more recent students, I doubt much has changed in this respect. I also, during my time there, witnessed a student with special needs see those needs ignored. Instead, the administration and many teachers did little to find out how to reach him, how to teach to him, and how to educate fellow students on his difference. This student was bullied worse than I was. To my shame, I was a part of that bullying. I hope that they have learned since then that there are better ways to accomodate a student. I also hasten to point out that the bullying problems at this school are hardly unique to private schools or schools in general, but that does not absolve the administration and many of the teachers for their failure to provide a safe and effective learning environment free of harassment. I hope that this has changed, but if you are a parent of a child with special needs, TREAD CAREFULLY, do your homework, and don't accept basic assurances that your child's needs will be met. ASK FOR DETAILS AND A DETAILED PLAN BEFORE ENROLLING A SPECIAL NEEDS STUDENT HERE. DO NOT ENROLL LGBT CHILDREN HERE. It is also the policy of the denomination/school to teach Young Earth Creationism. This means that the school will not seriously credit any possibility that evolutionary sciences, astrophysical sciences, and geological sciences are correct about the origin of the solar system, the formation of the planet, and the course that life has taken to develop upon it are accurate. They favor instead the ancient writings of Middle Eastern nomads, treating them as divinely inspired and literal accounts of Earth's history. This is fine if your student want to be a pastor in the WELS or pursue a career in retail management or be an Army Officer, and the school has produced many excellent graduates who have gone on to do these things and more. Unfortunately your child(ren) will be presented with significant hurdles if they wish to have a career that requires knowledge of geology, natural history, anthropology, astrophysics, evolutionary biology (or even regular biology), advanced medical science, or any other field related to a science that this church school has deemed heretical. I'm still a Christian, by the way. I believe that God gave me a brain and meant for me to use the rational capacity contained within it to understand the world. It makes the world no less glorious to me that it has clockwork processes and laws and order and it makes life no less miraculous to see an evolutionary process bring function and beauty to chaos. It does, however, undermine the authoritarian view that the only true and correct way to read Scripture is the one adopted by the clergy of the WELS. And that is the biggest flaw within this school: THEY WILL NOT TEACH YOUR CHILD TO THINK CREATIVELY. THEY WILL NOT TEACH YOUR CHILD RESPECT DIFFERING OPINIONS OR VIEWS. THEY WILL NOT TEACH YOUR CHILD TOLERANCE FOR DIVERSITY. Lest you think my entire time at this school was a negative experience, I did enjoy parts of it. The music program was excellent and I had good instruction from many teachers, including in English and US History and various math classes. Much of that is tainted by the intolerance of the denomination and their generally hostile attitude towards "unrepentant sinners," but I have hope that some day even the WELS will see their error. Until then, in every aspect in which this school excels, I am hopeful that you can find a healthier environment for your child that will not teach them intolerance and self-righteousness, and will encourage them in Christian love. (The Catholic school De La Salle comes to mind as a better, if not perfect, alternative.) And please do note that I graduated with good marks, but that I am also (by the standards of the denomination) an "unrepentant sinner" who grew up in the WELS. Take what I have to say with that in mind, but also remember that the denomination claims to hate the sin and love the sinner. I assure you that it has been my experience that the "love" is only extended to the "repentant" and usually that's mixed with a high dose of shaming. (You don't even want to get me started on how they treated teen pregnancies while I was there. Reprehensible. Sexist. Not worth discussing.)

I couldn't be happier with this school and we agonized over our selection, four years ago. The…read morestudents and the staff are Excellent and teach morals and values as well as academics. My son is graduating in a couple months and we are going to miss this place!

We have been at "Vis since 6th grade, my daughter is a current Junior. I cannot say enough positive…read morethings about this all girls (grades 6-12 is now all girls... grades Pre-K-5 are Co-ed) school: welcoming environment, teachers that are among some of the best I have ever met, that constantly go above and beyond to support our girls, top-notch academics with a strong focus on STEAM as well as the Humanities, award-winning theater, gorgeous campus, awesome college counselling... I could go on and on.

Where do I even start? I went here k-9. You take multiple tests to be even considered admission…read more The education is great but the environment is more toxic than a nuclear power plant. Your kids aren't blonde haired, blue eyed, very skinny, and rich they will be brutally bullied and if your family doesn't have money the school will do nothing about it and brush it off. Lunches are free, but if your kid is in middle or high school and dares eat the main dish instead of getting a salad they will be looked down upon by their peers. There's a huge eating disorder culture here - the school store doesn't sell uniforms above an adult medium. If your family happens not to be white or white passing, you will be outcast and treated different. If you don't have a boatload of money and are on scholarship - you will be treated differently. Report any bullying or abuse from other students and they will sweep it under the rug to save face. The religion portion of the education is also extremely dated and extreme - very conservative - in 8th grade your child will watch every 70s abstinence video on the planet and be compared to a wrapped present. They have a pro-life club that actively campaigns at lunch to k-12 students. Class trips start happening in middle school and cost anywhere from $2000-20,000 and are anywhere from Chicago to China. Don't get me wrong, the education is spectacular and your student will be 2-3 grade levels ahead of public school students but if you don't fit the mold their mental health will suffer. The harsh reality is that there is a specific look and cadence to the type of student that fits in and is most welcomed here.

My kids attend this school. The fence is for security and we don't allow dogs on the campus because…read moreof pee and feces. Humans are welcome on campus through certain gates when school is not in session. Academically the school is very strong and most teachers are great. Kids are driven and interested in a wide range of activities. It's ridiculously expensive and that is a definite turn off, so for that reason I'm glad they're almost done. But as an alum, the school is strong and stronger than it used to be. We also live very close to the school so I appreciate that my kids can bike there. Both my kids are going to very good colleges and while not perfect, I'm glad I went there, my kids went there and I am glad to know so many parents who volunteer.

My family lives 3 blocks from STP. The school takes up a vast city block, which, if resources were…read morebetter allocated, could be a welcome resource to the surrounding community- there are baseball fields, sledding hills, and great pathes for running. Instead of engaging with the local community- and despite benefiting from the community's tax dollars- STP has ensured that none but their students have access to "their" land by erecting a large ugly fence. The fence's ugliness is an apt visual representation of the slice of attendees that I get to see each school day: entitled parents or their entitled teenage children speeding through our neighborhood, running stop signs in their BMWs and Audis and recklessly endangering other people in their desperate hurry to wait in the long drop-off line. STP advertises itself as inclusive, stating that it is raising "tomorrow's leaders," which is both an ironic- inclusivity RARELY involves fences- and doubtful claim, given that true leadership almost never grows from within a culture of privilege and willful selfishness. St Paul is absolutely festooned with great schools that are not only free but actively demonstrate the values of inclusion, equity and justice. Notably, these schools do not have fences to keep out tax payers, and they usually work to engage the surrounding community. Given the wide availability of good schools, I find it hard to understand what could possibly draw STP families other than proximity to other rich white people and the daily ego-massage of being assured your offspring are "special." When I see STP cars speeding down Davern every morning- the drivers oblivious to anything or anyone outside their german-made cocoons- this definitely looks like the case.

This is a good place for a kid to get an education. The school will be an E-STEM magnet school…read morestarting in the year 2010. There are some rock solid teachers here who care about your children. With the partnership of students, parents, and teachers, they work together to get the student ready for the future.