Hopkins High School is a public high school located in Minnetonka, Minnesota, United States. Minnetonka is a southwestern suburb of Minneapolis. It offers classes for grades 10, 11, and 12, making it one of the only schools in the state still with a 10–12 alignment. Hopkins High School is part of the Hopkins School District 270 and draws students from the city of Hopkins, central and eastern parts of Minnetonka, western Edina, northern Eden Prairie, Golden Valley, western St. Louis Park, and southern Plymouth. Hopkins High School is known for their dominance in both Boys and Girls Basketball. Having won a combined 15 State Championships from years 2002–2019.
History
In the 1970s, there were two high schools in the district: Dwight D. Eisenhower Senior High School, named for the former general and U.S. president and Charles A. Lindbergh Senior High School named for the Minnesota native and famed aviator. In 1982, Hopkins closed Eisenhower High School, located in a 1950s-era building along Highway 7, and renamed the remaining school Hopkins Senior High School. The older building was converted to a community center and theater. Later part of the building was converted for use as an elementary school. In 2003, voters approved a $60 million bond, permitting the construction of a addition to the high school, consisting of a new auditorium, cafeteria and classrooms. Two years later, the Hopkins School District was declared in statutory operating debt by the State of Minnesota. Many support staff were laid off and class sizes increased by more than 30%. In 2007–08 school year, the statutory label was removed.
Academics
Hopkins High School was Minnesota's first National School of Excellence. In 1996, Hopkins was the only high school in Minnesota honored for overall excellence in Redbook's "America's Best High Schools" project. The Language Arts Department has been named a "Center for Excellence" by the National Council of Teachers of English in recognition of the writing program. The Community Involvement program is one of six in the nation honored by the IBM Corporation and U.S. News & World Report. U.S. News & World Report also ranked the school #628 in their 2012 list of best public high schools in America. Hopkins High School participates in the Advanced Placement Program. In 2005, 494 students took 751 AP exams, with 77% scoring 3 or higher. Students' mean SAT score of 1170 is well above national average, as is the mean ACT score of 23.9. Six teachers are consultants for the College Board and lead workshops and grade national exams. Since 1998, the school has had 84 National Merit Semifinalists and 141 Commended Scholars. Hopkins is also home to KHOP-TV which produces both weekly shows and cable programming, a school dance program called the Royelles, a Hip-Hop dance team named Deeply Royal, as well as a Student Government and school newspaper- The Royal Page
– from 1933 to 1994 an overall team champion was calculated with a point system involving the scores achieved by schools results in all three events – Cross Country, Slalom, and Ski Jumping. In each event, the school with the two best scores was declared the team champion in that event
