Benilde-St. Margaret's School
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Benilde-St. Margaret's School is a Catholic, co-educational private school for grades 7-12 located in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, that draws its over one thousand students from throughout the Twin Cities Metro Area.
History
Benilde-St. Margaret's School was originally a secondary school formed by a merger in the 1970s between St. Margaret's High School, a Catholic secondary school for girls in Minneapolis and Benilde High School, a Catholic secondary school for boys in St. Louis Park. Its present building was originally that of Benilde High School.St. Margaret's Academy
St. Margaret's was founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet in 1907 as St. Margaret’s Academy[History of Benilde-St. Margaret's School]. The campus for this all-girls school was located near the Basilica of St. Mary in downtown Minneapolis and included two mansions and a carriage house that had been built in the 1880s. By 1959 the old school had become inadequate in size - for every 100 girls accepted, about 200 were turned away. The Sisters of St. Joseph, who had anticipated such a problem, had purchased twenty-eight acres, and by 1960 a new school was built on Upton Avenue, near the Eloise Butler Wildflower Gardens and Wirth Park.
Benilde High School
The Christian Brothers, under the direction of Brother Mark Sullivan, built a boys' school - Benilde High School in the Minneapolis suburb of St. Louis Park.
Merger
Both schools operated independently until the 1970s, at which time enrollment began to decline and costs began to escalate. In 1974, the St. Margaret’s facility was sold to the Minneapolis school system, and the merged Benilde-St. Margaret’s High School opened its door at the former Benilde High School site. One hundred ninety students graduated in its first class.
Expansion to lower grades
It was not until 1989 that a junior high was added, and one hundred seventh and eighth-graders were enrolled in the first year.
Little Knights
Benilde-St. Margaret's opened it's doors to the children of faculty and staff members in the form of an on-site daycare center. Housed in the North building of BSM, Little Knights is a great way for parents that are teachers at BSM to not be far from their kids. Little Knights is for children through the age of 4, or preschool.
Award for excellence
In May of 1998, Benilde-St. Margaret’s was named by the U.S. Department of Education as a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence, a title that can be recognized for five years. In honor of this award, the entire school was wrapped in blue ribbon for a day. In 2000, an aggressive capital campaign entitled "Enriching Our Legacy of Excellence" began. As part of this one-and-a-half-year project, a new chapel, library, classroom wing, performing arts center, and both senior and junior high administrative office spaces were built.
Activities
The school competes in the [North Suburban Conference], along with its cross-town rival, St. Louis Park Senior High School, in the Minnesota State High School League. In recent years, the school has had a variety of successes in athletics and academic competitions, but it is perhaps most well known for its hockey, forensics (speech and debate), and soccer programs. For a complete listing of accomplishments in a particular activity, see the [Trophy Case]. The school's newspaper is the Knight Errant and its TV broadcast is Knightline News.| State Championships | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Sport | Number of Championships | Year |
| Fall | Soccer, Boys | 3 | 1997, 2000, 2003 |
| Winter | Alpine Skiing, Boys | 1 | 2004 |
| Apline Skiing, Girls | 1 | 2000 | |
| Hockey, Girls | 2 | 2002, 2004 | |
| Dance Team, Girls | 3 | 1985, 1999, 2004 | |
| Hockey, Boys | 2 | 1999, 2001 | |
| Basketball, Girls | 1 | 2006 | |
| Spring | Golf, Boys | 1 | 2003 |
| Total | 14 | ||
References
External links
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