Blake School (Minneapolis)

Blake School
File:TheBlakeSchool1900Logo.jpg Challenging the mind, engaging the heart.
Location
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
Information
Type	Private, College-prep, Day
Religious affiliation(s)	Nonsectarian
Established	1900
Head of School	Anne Stavney
Faculty	122
Gender	Coeducational
Enrollment	Approx. 1,400
Average class size	15-16
Student to teacher ratio	9:1
Campus	Suburban Upper School, Northrop Campus (Minneapolis) Middle and Lower School, Blake Campus (Hopkins, Minnesota) Lower School, Highcroft Campus (Wayzata, Minnesota)
Color(s)	Royal blue, kelly green, white, and brown
Athletics conference	Independent Metro Athletic Conference (IMAC)
Mascot	Blake Bears
Website	blakeschool.org

The Blake School is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian PK-12 college preparatory school, established in 1900. Blake is located on three campuses around the Twin Cities area of Minnesota: the upper school (9–12) being in Minneapolis; administration offices, middle school (6-8), and half of the lower school being in Hopkins, Minnesota; and the other half of the lower school being in Wayzata, Minnesota.

History

Early Blake boys studying

During the early 20th century, two schools were founded in Minneapolis to prepare students for elite colleges in the Northeast: the Blake School for boys and Northrop Collegiate School for girls. A third school, Highcroft Country Day School serving students of both sexes, was incorporated during the migration to Minneapolis suburbs. In 1974, the three schools merged to become the Blake Schools, with its first coeducational class graduating in 1975.

Blake

The Blake Campus, home to the Middle School and one of the two Lower Schools, Hopkins

In 1907, William M. Blake established the Blake School, a private, preparatory school for boys, in Minneapolis. Three years later, Charles C. Bovey, a local businessman, wanted to reform Blake, and put it on the same plane as Eastern preparatory schools.

With help from William Blake, Bovey asked sixteen other local business leaders to contribute $2,500 each towards the school's first capital drive. In 1911, these original guarantors hired Charles B. Newton, a Princeton and Harvard alumnus, to replace William Blake as headmaster. Newton envisioned a school "not only for the wealthy, but for the worthy." The school incorporated on May 5, 1911, with all but two guarantors serving on the Board of Trustees. In 1912, their pooled resources enabled the construction of a new building in suburban Hopkins, with the site, now known as Blake Campus, being the current home of the middle school and one of the two lower school campuses.

Northrop

Northrop building in 1916

In 1900, Zulema A. Ruble, a Smith College alumna, and Carrie Bartlett established Graham Hall, a private school for girls, in Minneapolis. In 1914, a group of Minneapolis leaders purchased Graham Hall and incorporated it as Northrop Collegiate School. In 1917, the school relocated within Minneapolis, with the site, now known as Northrop Campus, being the current home of the upper school campus.

Field hockey on Northrop in 1918

Highcroft

In 1958, Sage Cowles, wife of John Cowles, Jr., along with two friends, established Highcroft Country Day School, a private, coeducational, nonsectarian K-9 school in Wayzata. Highcroft was designed to provide an education near home, for students in the far western suburbs of the Twin Cities. In 1960, the school building was constructed on land purchased and donated to the school, part of which was the former Highcroft estate in Wayzata, with the site, now known as Highcroft Campus, being the current home of the other lower school campus.

Preservation and present

Some spectators arriving at Blake's Gordy Aamoth Jr. Memorial Stadium

In addition to retaining the original sites of the three schools as part of the campuses of the Blake School, the school also carries on other traditions, such as:

• from the Blake School for boys - strong speech and debate programs, which are still maintained as an ongoing graduation requirement
• from Northrop Collegiate School - strong drama program, mascot of bears, along with the school color of blue
• from Highcroft Country Day School - growing athletic program for both boys and girls, along with school color of green.

The current head of school is Anne Stavney.

Academics

Blake promotes a well rounded, liberal arts education encouraging involvement in academics, athletics, and the arts. The school serves approximately 1,400 students in prekindergarten through twelfth grade, with an average classroom size of 15-16 students, and average graduating class size of 130. The school's student-adult ratio is 9:1.

It takes 22 credits to graduate from The Blake School, with a minimum course load of five courses each semester. The Blake School also offers global citizenship programs.

Accreditation

Blake is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States (ISACS), and is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), The College Board, National Association of College Admissions Counselors (NACAC), and the Cum Laude Society.

Recognition

Blake has received numerous accolades in recent years, including:

• U.S. Department of Education - Blue Ribbon School, 1989–90, 1992–93, 1993–94
• The College Board - "Exemplary AP English Literature and Composition Programs", 2007
• Wall Street Journal - "How the Schools Stack Up" (ranking of 41- above Hotchkiss School, Deerfield Academy, Sidwell Friends School in Washington D.C., Princeton Day School, and Dalton School in New York, for high schools with the best record of graduates attending eight top universities), 2007
• Character Education Partnership - National School of Character, 2009
• Mpls St.Paul Magazine - in school diversity and inclusion efforts, 2010
• MN Monthly Magazine - for leadership training of its students, 2012; Built to Lead

In 2011, Blake won the Minnesota Middle School Science Bowl, and was a competing school in the U.S. Department of Energy's National Science Bowl, winning the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Car Race portion.

Athletics

Blake Ice Arena, Blake Campus

Blake competes in the Independent Metro Athletic Conference (IMAC) and formerly in the Tri-Metro Conference, which is part of the Minnesota State High School League. The school athletic teams are named the Blake Bears, with the school colors being royal blue, kelly green, brown, and white. The school offers twenty-eight sports, and fields over fifty athletic teams. The school also recognizes four club sports, including Ultimate Frisbee, Equestrian Team, Sailing, and the Stepps Dance Team. They are also recognized for having their hockey team in a cameo for the 1996 Disney movie D3: The Mighty Ducks when the movie was shot on set at Blake's Hopkins campus hockey arena; they came from behind down 8-0 to beat the Ducks 9-8, with 9 third period goals.

History

Blake won the Minnesota State High School League Challenge Cup, which awards schools based on their success in section and state fine arts and athletics tournaments, in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 - more than any other school in state history - and was runner-up in 2006, 2008 and 2010, and placed third in 2011.

State Championships
Season	Sport	Number of Championships	Year
Fall	(B) Cross Country	1	2008
	(G) Cross Country	1	2011
	(B) Football	0
	(B) Soccer	1	2008
	(G) Soccer	2	2000, 2011
	(G) Swimming and Diving	0
	(G) Tennis	8	1984, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 2011, 2012
	(G) Volleyball	0
Winter	(B) Alpine Skiing	5	1978, 2006, 2007, 2013, 2014
	(G) Alpine Skiing	3	1978, 1981, 1992
	(B) Basketball	0
	(G) Basketball	3	1994, 1998, 1999
	(C) Fencing	3	2001, 2010, 2012
	(B) Hockey	0
	(G) Hockey	5	2003, 2007, 2009, 2013, 2014
	(B) Nordic Skiing	0
	(G) Nordic Skiing	0
	(G) Gymnastics	2	1981, 1983
	(B) Swimming and Diving - co-op with Breck School	2	2009, 2010
Spring	(B) Baseball	0
	(B) Golf	5	1982, 1984, 1997, 2014, 2015
	(G) Golf	0
	(B) Lacrosse	3	2005, 2006, 2008
	(G) Lacrosse	6	2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
	(G) Softball	0
	(B) Tennis	15	1979, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1987, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015
	(B) Track & Field	0
	(G) Track & Field	3	2001, 2006, 2012
Total		69

Notable alumni

• Charles Baxter (1965) - author of National Book Award nominated The Feast of Love (2000)
• Jack Dalrymple (1966) - Current Governor of North Dakota
• Tom Davis (1970) - Emmy winning comedy writer and performer
• Mark Dayton (1965) - U.S. Senator from Minnesota, 40th Governor of Minnesota, heir to Dayton's and Target Corporation, first husband of Alida Rockefeller Messinger
• David T. Ellwood (1971) - Dean of Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government
• Al Franken (1969) - U.S. Senator from Minnesota, satirist, comedian, author, screenwriter, Saturday Night Live television performer, political commentator, radio host
• Dave Goldberg (1985) - businessman, CEO of Survey Monkey
• Poppy Harlow (2001) - CNN reporter
• Thomas B. Heffelfinger (1966) - former U.S. Attorney of Minnesota
• George Roy Hill (1939) - Oscar winning director
• Steve Kelley (1971) - Minnesota State Senator, 2000 U.S. Senate candidate, attorney
• John Hugh MacMillan - businessman
• Whitney MacMillan (1947) - CEO of Cargill
• Marcia McNutt (1970) - explorer, researcher and professor in geophysics
• Marcus Peacock (1978) - former Deputy Administrator U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• J.T. Wyman (2004) - NHL player

External links

• Official School Website

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