Profile of Edina High School

A comprehensive curriculum of 140+ courses emphasizes preparation for college. Besides extensive offerings in English, mathematics, social studies and sciences, study in four languages is offered: five years of French, Spanish, Latin, and Chinese and four years in American Sign Language (ASL).

Approximately 70 French students in ninth grade have been part of our Immersion program since kindergarten; as sophomores, they will enroll in our Diverse Francophone World course. As juniors, they’ll complete the AP French Language & Culture curriculum. As seniors, they all have an opportunity to take French Culture in the Modern World.

In addition, students have an opportunity to take courses in business education, family and consumer sciences, performing and fine arts and physical education, along with enriched (accelerated) and AP courses.

Edina is both a small city, population 49,050 and a suburban, residential community on the southwest edge of Minneapolis. With a high percentage of college graduates, most parents are employed in professional and managerial positions.

Assignment of students to counselors is done by team in 9th grade and alphabetically in grades 10- 12. Besides the counselors listed on the front page, three administrative assistants serve the department: Nancy Knutson (952) 848-3131 and Molly Thuma (952) 848-3833 work with Nicole Plafcan, Taylor Johnson, Bill Hicks and Dylan Hackbarth; Diana Swanson (952) 848-3972 works with Lisa Burnham, Julie Block, Sandy Schmidt and Robin Dayneko. College representative visits (Virtual) may be scheduled in RepVisits at least two weeks in advance of the desired time.

Spring 2020

Distance Learning at Edina High School took place during the time period of March 16 through June 30, 2020, resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. This is also noted on all student transcripts.

The Edina School Board passed a resolution to allow students the opportunity to change any passing grade from Semester 2, 202, to a P (“Pass”) on the their transcript. Non-passing grades for Semester 2, 2020, are noted as NG (“No Grade”).

2020-2021 School Year

Edina High School is providing two learning models for students: part-time in a hybrid learning model and a full-time online learning model.

• A hybrid model of learning is a weekly blend of in-school learning following strict safety guidelines and at-home learning via technology.
• Full-time distance learning in the newly designed Edina Virtual Academy. This includes synchronous and asynchronous school days.

By Board policy, Edina High School High School will not rank students, but will provide a grade distribution chart by deciles. Decile rank is determined by deciles, that is, groups of 10 percent of the senior class. With a senior class of 700 students, for example, the first decile includes approximately the top 70 student GPAs. The second decile contains the next 10 percent and so forth.

Besides the formal curriculum, Edina students are engaged in many co-curricular activities at our school. Surveys show approximately 85% of our high school students take part in these activities. One in three takes one or more leadership roles. Edina offers a wide array of opportunities including athletics, debate, music, publications, student government, theater, and clubs ranging from art to foreign language to math. Our Youth Serving Youth program, focusing on leadership, community service and social awareness has over fifteen groups.

Of the 170 certified faculty members, 84 % have earned master’s, specialist or doctoral degrees. 54 staff are National Board Certified.

The Board of Education requires a minimum of 43 credits in grades 9-12. Requirements for the class of 2021 are:

• English - Four years, including one year of literature
• Health - One semester
• Physical Education - Two semesters
• Math - Three years, at least through Advanced Algebra with Probability and Statistics
• Science - Three years, including Biology and at least two additional credits in Physics or Chemistry
• Social Studies - One year of U.S. History, one year of Government, one semester of Economics, and one year of either World History or European History. The state geography requirement is satisfied through a year of U.S. History and either a year of World History or European History.

(AP Courses are weighted 1.2)

• U.S. Department of Education National School of Excellence.
• Five Star School (highest rating possible) designated by the Minnesota Department of Education.
• #1 College prep high school in Minnesota (Niche)
• Top school for student success in Minnesota (USA Today
• #1 in Minnesota  for sending students to elite colleges (Polaris list)
• Student publications include Images, our literary arts magazine, Zephyrus, our student newspaper, and Whigrean, our yearbook. Each of these publications has won state and national awards from organizations such as Columbia Scholastic Press Association, Journalism Educators of Minnesota, and National Scholastic Press Association. Students are selected for Whigrean and Zephyrus through a competitive process.
• Comprehensive music program features Concert, Symphonic,  Varsity, Marching and Pep Bands; Symphonic, Chamber and Philharmonic orchestras; Concert Choir, Varsity, Men's and Bel Canto Choir. Small groups include jazz ensembles, chamber choirs, solo and ensemble contest participation.  The Concert Choir, Concert Band and Orchestra have earned superior ratings from the Minnesota State High School League for decades.  GRAMMY® Signature school. This award recognizes the top public high schools across the United States that have made outstanding commitments to music education. The Minnesota String and Orchestra Teachers Association (MNSOTA) recognized Edina Public Schools’ (EPS) orchestra program with the 2017 Meritorious Orchestra Program Award.
• 187 state athletic championships - #1 among 500 members of the Minnesota State High School League.
• Over 50 sports, activities and academic teams
• Edina’s athletic program is ranked 8^th in the nation by Sports Illustrated Magazine. The ranking is done once a decade and recognizes all-around achievement over a 10-year period
• The Green Machine, Edina’s robotics team, received the highest award in competition at the national FIRST Robotics Competition in 2019.
• Award winning Model United Nations and DECA teams
• Leadership Opportunities: Student Council, Student Senate, 212 Leader ship, Mosaic and Hornet Mentors
• Unified Options include Physical Education, sports and theater.
• Over 50 student led clubs. Examples: Project Earth, Coding Club, Girl Up

In addition, 11th and 12th grade students may also complete graduation requirements by taking course work, funded by the state, at Minnesota public and private colleges. Seventy plus students designated as PSEO on their transcript, are enrolled in this program on a full or part-time basis for the 2020-21 school year.

Four-year Colleges/Universities - 83%

• 63% Public, 37% Private
• 40% Minnesota, 60% Out-of-State

Community Colleges/Technical Colleges - 9%
Gap Year - 3%
Military - .5%
N/A - 3.5%
Other/Employment - 1%

Graduates will attend 180 different Colleges and Universities in 2020-2021.

***Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, there is limited testing data for the Class of 2020. The data for ACT/SAT below is for the class of 2019.

ACT - American College Test (2018-19)

Number of seniors taking the test: 646
Percent of the class: 95%
Average ACT score: 26.3

Note: According to ACT, the percentage of Edina students ready for college level course work was twice as high as the typical Minnesota High School graduate.

SAT Reasoning Test (2018-2019)

Number of seniors taking the test::  87
Percent of the class: 12

Advanced Placement Program

Note: Edina High School administered in May 2020 almost twice as many AP exams as any other high school in the state.

Advanced Placement Scholars

Number of Scholars: 507   
Average Score: 4.16