St. Paul High School, Tenth and Minnesota, St. Paul, 1886. - Minnesota Historical Society photo.
When the Minnesota Territory was formed, the three existing "cities" were St. Paul, St. Anthony (present-day Minneapolis), and Stillwater. The cities competed for the home of the three most important institutions. St. Paul became the capitol, St. Anthony gained the university (University of Minnesota), and Stillwater gained the prison.
in 1856, a small group of citizens decided that a school district must be established. The mindset was that if excellence is the goal, then “good schools would attract good settlers.” In 2007, our district proudly served more than 41,000 students. Source: "The Minnesota Territory." A lecture by Dr. William E. Lass
A Brief History
In 1847, Harriet Bishop traveled from Vermont to the small but growing city in the West, St. Paul. As part of a program led by educational reformer Catharine Beecher to send women teachers to help educate and civilize frontier children, Bishop was the first of her class to volunteer to go West. She came to the area that would soon become the Minnesota Territory to both educate the children of St. Paul and to exert her moral influence on the rough frontier town. Convinced that women were capable of teaching morality, Bishop became active in many moral issues such as temperance, educational reform, and women's suffrage. She is credited with starting the first public school in St. Paul and the first Sunday school, which led to the first Baptist church in the area.
1856: Saint Paul’s first school board consisted of nine elective and two ex-officio members.
1870: Two students, Fannie Hayes and A. P. Warren became the first two students to graduate from Saint Paul high school.
1879: Saint Paul High School has eight teachers and a principal, which this high school became known as Central High School.
1897: Grover Cleveland High School opened, which later renamed Johnson Senior High School in 1911.
1906: 27,940 students attended SPPS
1914: Saint Paul city government seized power of all school matters, equivalent to the school board.
1950: Saint Paul Public Schools Board of Education was re-established again after years of intense campaigning by civic-minded citizens.
1954: The United States Supreme Court ruled that public education between minority groups and the majority could not be “equal” if it remained “separate.
1960: Hazel Park JHS offers more than 40 subjects in its Adult Education program.
1964: Saint Paul Public Schools addressed the concerns of racial imbalance in the school district by developing resolutions that students have equal educational access.
1970-73: Arts Education at SPPS was being evaluated, and SPPS considered adding more arts programs to the schools.
1991: Saint Paul’s high school graduation rate is 73%, among the highest in the country.
2004: Feb. 28: More than 6,000 supporters including students, parents and school staff rallied at the Capitol for the state to support education funding.
Watch "Saint Paul Public Schools: 150 Years of Excellence"
Wendell Richard "Wendy" Anderson (born February 1, 1933) is an American politician and was the 33rd Governor of Minnesota from January 4, 1971 to December 29, 1976. In late 1976, he resigned the governor's office in order to be named U.S. Senator to replace Walter Mondale, who had been elected Vice President of the United States. He served in the U.S. Senate from December 30, 1976 until his term ended on December 29, 1978.
Anderson was born in Saint Paul in 1933. He attended Johnson High School and went on to the University of Minnesota, where he received a B.A. in 1954. He later served in the United States Army during 1956 and 1957 and earned his law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1960.
Louie Perry Anderson (March 24, 1953 - Jan. 21, 2022) was an American stand-up comedian, actor and television host. Anderson created the cartoon series "Life with Louie," has written three books, and was the initial host of the third revival of the game show "Family Feud," from 1999 to 2002.
Growing up in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Louie Anderson was the second-youngest of 11 children in his family. He went to Johnson Senior High.
Born on August 5, 1937, Herb Brooks grew up in a modest duplex at the corner of Payne and Ivy Streets, on the East side of Saint Paul. Herb got his first taste of championship hockey when he led his Saint Paul Johnson squad to the Minnesota high school title in 1955. He would then go on to play at the University of Minnesota under legendary Coach John Mariucci, where he tallied 45 points from 1957-59. From there, Herbie went on to play on several U.S. National and Olympic teams from 1962-70. Brooks died in 2003.
Warren E. Burger
Warren Earl Burger (Sept. 17, 1907 – June 25, 1995) was the 15th Chief Justice of the United States from 1969 to 1986.
He was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1907, and one of seven children. He grew up on the family farm near the edge of Saint Paul. He attended John A. Johnson High School, where he was president of the student council. He competed in hockey, football, track, and swimming. While in high school, he wrote articles on high school sports for local newspapers. He graduated in 1925.
Burger attended night school at the University of Minnesota while selling insurance for Mutual Life Insurance. Afterward, he enrolled at William Mitchell College of Law (then the St. Paul College of Law), receiving his degree magna cum laude in 1931. He took a job at the firm of Boyensen, Otis and Faricy, now known as Moore, Costello & Hart. In 1937, Burger served as the eighth president of the Saint Paul Jaycees. He also taught for 12 years at William Mitchell.
Carey was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in April 1996. He logged over 10 days in space as the pilot of STS-109 (Space Shuttle Columbia), which launched on March 1, 2002. This critical mission successfully serviced and upgraded the Hubble Space Telescope.
Carey was born on April 30, 1957, in St. Paul, and married the former Cheryl Ann Tobritzhofer of St. Paul, Minnesota. They have two children. He enjoys motorcycle travel, racing motorcross, camping, reading science fiction. Digger graduated from Highland Park High School in 1975; received a bachelor of science degree in aerospace engineering and mechanics and a master of science degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis in 1981 and 1982, respectively. Carey served 22 years in the U.S. Air Force, logging over 3,700 hours in more than 35 types of aircraft.
Colton Dunn
Born in Illinois, actor and comedy writer Colton Dunn attended St. Anthony Park Elementary, Ramsey Junior High (now Hidden River Middle School) and Central High School, graduating in 1995. He was part of the Central Touring Theatre and quit the basketball team to pursue improv comedy. Before leaving the University of Minnesota for New York and later Los Angeles, he performed at Bryant-Lake Bowl in Minneapolis and with ComedySportz.
His professional career started on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," and later earned an Emmy nomination for writing on "Key and Peele." After a recurring role on "Parks and Recreation," his big break came as Garrett on "Superstore," which aired from 2015-2021.
Amelia Mary Earhart (July 24, 1897 – disappeared July 2, 1937) was an American aviation pioneer and author. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She received the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross for this record. She set many other records, wrote best-selling books about her flying experiences and was instrumental in the formation of The Ninety-Nines, an organization for female pilots. Earhart joined the faculty of the Purdue University aviation department in 1935 as a visiting faculty member to counsel women on careers and help inspire others with her love for aviation. She was also a member of the National Woman's Party, and an early supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment.
Earhart's father briefly worked as a clerk for the Great Northern Railway in Saint Paul, where Earhart enrolled in Central High School as a junior. After Earhart's father lost his job, Earhart's mother took her children to Chicago where they lived with friends. Amelia eventually was enrolled in Hyde Park High School in Chicago.
Jawed Karim is a German/Bangladeshi-American internet entrepreneur, best known for being a co-founder of YouTube and the first person to upload a video on it. Many of the core components of PayPal, including its real-time anti-fraud system, were also designed and implemented by Karim.
Karim was born in Merseburg, East Germany, but crossed the Inner German border with his family in 1981 and grew up in Neuss, West Germany. He graduated from Central High School and later attended theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Department of Computer Science. He left campus prior to graduating to become an early employee at PayPal, but continued his coursework, earning his Bachelor of Science in computer science. He subsequently earned a master's degree in computer science from Stanford University.
A comedian, actor and Emmy Award-winning screenwriter, Joe Mande attended Ramsey Junior High (now Hidden River Middle School) and graduated from Central High School in 2001. As an actor, he had recurring roles on hit sitcoms including "Parks and Recreation" and "Modern Family," and wrote for shows including "The Good Place," "Kroll Show" and "Master of None." In 2004, he won an Emmy for writing and producing the HBO comedy series, "Hacks."
Mande was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and moved to St. Paul at the age of 10. He earned a BFA in writing at Emerson College in Boston.
Mint Condition is an American R&B band from St. Paul, Minnesota. Formed in themid-1980s at Central High School, its original members were Stokley Williams (lead vocals, drums, percussion), Homer O'Dell (guitar), Larry Waddell (keyboards, piano), Roger Lynch (son of Roger Troutman), Ray Coleman and Kenny Young. Lynch, Coleman and Young all left the group however and were replaced by schoolmates Keri Lewis (keyboards, synthesizer) and Jeffrey Allen (saxophone, keyboards) along with Chicago native Ricky Kinchen (bass guitar). This lineup of Williams, O'Dell, Waddell, Allen, Lewis and Kinchen comprised the classic lineup of the band.
The group is well known for its diverse musical style and also its captivating live performances. The band is also well known for their well written and produced R&B ballads, mainly in the 1990s. They are mostly known for their hits "Breakin' My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes)" (1991) and "What Kind of Man Would I Be" (1996).
Charles Monroe Schulz (November 26, 1922 – February 12, 2000), nicknamed Sparky, was an American cartoonist, best known for the comic strip "Peanuts" (which featured the characters Snoopy and Charlie Brown, among others). He is widely regarded as one of the most influential cartoonists of all time, cited as a major influence by many later cartoonists.
Born in Minneapolis, Schulz grew up in St. Paul. He was the only child of Carl Schulz, who was born in Germany, and Dena Halverson, who had Norwegian heritage. His uncle called him "Sparky" after the horse Spark Plug in Billy DeBeck's comic strip, Barney Google.
Schulz loved drawing and sometimes drew his family dog, Spike, who ate unusual things, such as pins and tacks. In 1937, Schulz drew a picture of Spike and sent it to Ripley's Believe It or Not!; his drawing appeared in Robert Ripley's syndicated panel, captioned, "A hunting dog that eats pins, tacks, and razor blades is owned by C. F. Schulz, St. Paul, Minn." and "Drawn by 'Sparky' (C.F. was his father, Carl Fred Schulz).
Schulz attended Richard Gordon Elementary School, where he skipped two half-grades. He became a shy, timid teenager, perhaps as a result of being the youngest in his class at Central High School. One well-known episode in his high school life was the rejection of his drawings by his high school yearbook. A five-foot-tall statue of Snoopy was placed in the school's main office 60 years later.
Harold Edward Stassen (April 13, 1907 – March 4, 2001) was the 25th Governor of Minnesota from 1939 to 1943. After service in World War II, he was president of the University of Pennsylvania from 1948 to 1953. In popular culture, his name has become most identified with his fame as a perennial candidate for other offices, most notably and frequently President of the United States.
Stassen, the third of five children, was born in West St. Paul, Minnesota, to Elsie Emma (née Mueller) and William Andrew Stassen, a farmer and several-times mayor of West St. Paul. His mother was German and his father was born in Minnesota, to German and Czech parents. He graduated from high school at age 14. At the University of Minnesota, Stassen was an intercollegiate debater, captain of the champion university rifle team in 1927, and received bachelor's and law degrees in 1929. After opening a law office with Elmer J. Ryan in South St. Paul that year, he was elected District Attorney of Dakota County in 1930 and 1934, then elected Governor of Minnesota in 1938.
Graduating from Central High School in 1995 alongside fellow comedian Colton Dunn, Nick Swardson spent his entire K-12 education in Saint Paul Public Schools, starting with Webster Elementary (now Barack & Michelle Obama Montessori) and Ramsey Junior High (now Hidden River Middle School). He is the youngest of three siblings, and his dad was an editor and journalist, founding the former community newspaper the Grand Gazette.
Also part of the Central Touring Theatre and ComedySportz, his career took off quickly after graduation with his first open-mic performance at Acme Comedy Company in Minneapolis. He hired Dunn on his first sketch comedy series, "Pretend Time" on Comedy Central, and has been in many movies and TV shows since, including "Reno 911," "Grandma's Boy," "Grown Ups 2," and "Happy Gilmore 2."
Dave Winfield, athlete, administrator and corporate executive, was born Oct. 3, 1951, in St. Paul. He and his older brother Stephen were the sons of Arline V. Winfield, whom he has often acknowledged as a beacon of support in his life. Winfield attended Central High School and earned a scholarship to the University of Minnesota, where he starred in both basketball and baseball for the Golden Gophers. After hitting and pitching the Gophers to the College World Series in 1973, he was drafted by the San Diego Padres, a baseball team, the Minnesota Vikings, although he did not play college football, the Atlanta Hawks and the Utah Stars of the ABA, both basketball teams. He is one of only two men ever drafted in three different pro sports.
Winfield played for 22 years in the MLB, was a 12-time MLB All-Star and seven-time Gold Glove Award winner, was was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001. A life-size bronze statue of him was installed at Toni Stone Field, adjacent to Central, in 2026.
Kao Kalia Yang is a Hmong American teacher, speaker, and writer. Born in Ban Vinai Refugee Camp in December 1980, Yang came to Minnesota in the summer of 1987, along with her parents and older sister. She is a graduate of Harding High School. She is the award-winning author of the memoirs, "The Latehomecomer," "The Song Poet," "Somewhere in the Unknown World" and "Where Rivers Part." Her children’s books, "A Map into the World," "The Most Beautiful Thing," "The Shared Room," "Yang Warriors," "From the Tops of the Trees," "The Rock in My Throat" and "Caged" center Hmong children and families who live in our world, who dream, hurt, and hope in it. Yang’s middle grade debut fiction, "The Diamond Explorer," contends with the narratives we are given and the ones we give.
Yang’s work has been recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Chautauqua Prize, the PEN USA literary awards, the Dayton’s Literary Peace Prize, as Notable Books by the American Library Association, Kirkus Best Books of the Year, Bank Street College of Education’s Best Children’s Books of the Year, the Heartland Bookseller’s Award, the Carter G. Woodson Award, and garnered seven Minnesota Book Awards. She was Star Tribune’s 2024 Artist of the Year. Yang holds an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Carleton College. She is a McKnight, Soros and Guggenheim fellow.
တၢ်နုာ်လီၤမၤစၢၤတၢ်စးထီၣ်ဖိသၣ်အိၣ်ဖျဲၣ်ထီၣ်သီတုၤသၢနံၣ် (Birth to Three Early Intervention) တၢ်ရဲၣ်တၢ်ကျဲၤဟ့ၣ်လီၤဝဲ တၢ်တိစၢၤမၤစၢၤတဖၣ်လၢဒီတနံၣ်တီၢ်ပူၤ လၢဟံၣ်ဖိဃီဖိတလိၣ်ဟ့ၣ်တၢ်လၢာ်ဘူၣ်လၢၤစ့ၤဘၣ်န့ၣ်လီၤ. Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) ဘၣ်တၢ်ဒုးအိၣ်ထီၣ်အီၤန့ၣ် ဒိးသန့ၤသးခီဖျိ မိၢ်ပၢ်အတၢ်ဘၣ်သူၣ်ဘၣ်သးအဂ့ၢ်ခိၣ်သ့ၣ်တဖၣ်လၢ အဖိတၢ်ဒိၣ်ထီၣ်ထီထီၣ်အဂီၢ်န့ၣ်လီၤ. တၢ်တိစၢၤမၤစၢၤတဖၣ်ကအိၣ်ဝဲဖဲဟံၣ်ပူၤကိးနံၤဒဲး, ဒီးကအိၣ်ဖဲ Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) တၢ်မၤလိလီၢ် မ့တမ့ၢ် တၢ်ကွၢ်ထွဲဖိသၣ်အလီၢ်န့ၣ်လီၤ.
ဖိသၣ်ဆံးကူၣ်သ့လီၤဆီ (Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) တၢ်ရဲၣ်တၢ်ကျဲၤတဖၣ်လၢ ဖိသၣ်ဆံး ၃ နံၣ် တုၤ ၄ နံၣ်တဖၣ်အဂီၢ် ဘၣ်တၢ်ရဲၣ်ကျဲၤဆီလီၤပာ်လီၤဖဲ စ့ၣ်ဖီလ်ပဒိၣ်ကၠိ ဖြံၣ်ခ့ၣ်ကၠိတဖၣ်အပူၤ (ဖိသၣ် ၄နံၣ်), SPPS ECSE တီၤဒၢးတဖၣ်အပူၤ, ပှၤတဝၢတၢ်ကွၢ်ထွဲဖိသၣ်လီၢ် မ့တမ့ၢ် တီၤဖိသၣ်ဆံးကၠိတဖၣ်, Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE), Head Start မ့တမ့ၢ် ဖဲဟံၣ်ပူၤန့ၣ်လီၤ.
