Mpls Southwest #1 High School....Again (Minneapolis, St. Paul: fit in, transfer, neighborhoods)

[Mason3000]

US News released their Top High Schools list & Mpls SW takes #1 again this year (back to back). Last year many suburban parents found it unbelievable that a city school could be #1, or that 3 city schools could be in the Top-10 (Mpls South dropped out of the Top-10 this year). Let the debates begin!

1. Mpls Southwest
2. Edina
3. Mahtomedi
4. St. Louis Park
5. Eastview
6. St. Paul Central
7. Minnetonka
8. TrekNorth (Bemidji)
9. St. Anthony Village
10. Eagan

http://www.usnews.com/education/best...ools/minnesota

[uptown_urbanist]

Be ready for the flames and for some mad spinning to make it appear that the vast majority of Southwest students are drop-outs, the "best of" lists are useless, the report is based on just a "handful" of top students, the statistics are all wrong, and that all city schools are terrible, because they are in the CITY, you know, and we all know that those "inner-city" schools are only filled with drug-dealing gangsters just biding their time until they can drop out and go back to the streets.

Although for what it's worth, I do think that lists like this can't really quantify "best", and do believe that the Twin Cities has many excellent high schools. Further, what is "best" for one student may not be "best" for another. I do think, however, that Southwest (and I'm sure the rest of the schools on this list, as well as plenty of them not on the list) is an excellent option for the more academically-inclined students. The "smart kids" of the world will definitely fit in there and will have ample advanced course offerings.

Congratulations to all of the Minnesota schools who made the list!

[Laggard]

Wait, I thought all schools in Mpls were awful and you needed to go somewhere like Edina to find good public education.

[Min-Chi-Cbus]

That list makes me very proud....if we lived there (or move back) we'd likely be in one of the top 4 school districts (except #3). I really like that SW is one of (or apparently, THE) best schools in the region, because even though it's probably "white, yuppy, rich, etc." for Minneapolis, it's quite diverse for the region and seems to offer diversity as well as top-notch education -- what many people consider the "ultimate goal".

[Min-Chi-Cbus]

Originally Posted by Laggard

Wait, I thought all schools in Mpls were awful and you needed to go somewhere like Edina to find good public education.

It's not cheap to live in SW Minneapolis either....not anymore, anyways. That's why neighborhoods like Kenny or Armitage (moreso the latter, because when I lived in Kenny I am almost certain my district had me going to Washburn) that are fairly affordable are so ideal to me.

[Min-Chi-Cbus]

I heard through the Star Tribune that a lot of North Minneapolis residents were potentially transferring and preferring Southwest over options like Henry or "New North High"......Does anyone think this could negatively impact the scores (NOT because they are possibly minorities, but rather because kids from the poorest areas of cities don't have the same educational encouragement in the household)? Or has this transition already taken place -- and the scores stayed high?

[uptown_urbanist]

I believe the kids from north Minneapolis who don't choose Henry choose the other suburban districts that direction; I don't think (although could be wrong) that they have the option of attending Southwest, even if they wanted to, as there's seldom space available, unless they qualify for Choice is Yours. If anything, my impression is that Southwest has become wealthier and less diverse, socio-economically, in recent years (although not sure what the official numbers show, but that seems to be the "word on the street") as other schools add their own IB programs and the district tries to actively spread the academic opportunities (and the families who value education) throughout all the high schools (with mixed results; seems to be working well at Washburn, although they have had some growing pains). I think Southwest's scores have probably gone up as a result (again, not totally sure of what the official numbers are on that). I know there is a lot of resentment among some Minneapolis residents towards Southwest. I don't think angry North parents are trying to send their kids to Southwest -- they're going with charter schools or suburbs participating in the Choice is Yours program instead. But I didn't see the article you're talking about (will look it up now!) so perhaps there has been an increase in north students at SW recently.

[ferr0052]

what areas in Minneapolis does southwest serve?

[Min-Chi-Cbus]

Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist

I believe the kids from north Minneapolis who don't choose Henry choose the other suburban districts that direction; I don't think (although could be wrong) that they have the option of attending Southwest, even if they wanted to, as there's seldom space available, unless they qualify for Choice is Yours. If anything, my impression is that Southwest has become wealthier and less diverse, socio-economically, in recent years (although not sure what the official numbers show, but that seems to be the "word on the street") as other schools add their own IB programs and the district tries to actively spread the academic opportunities (and the families who value education) throughout all the high schools (with mixed results; seems to be working well at Washburn, although they have had some growing pains). I think Southwest's scores have probably gone up as a result (again, not totally sure of what the official numbers are on that). I know there is a lot of resentment among some Minneapolis residents towards Southwest. I don't think angry North parents are trying to send their kids to Southwest -- they're going with charter schools or suburbs participating in the Choice is Yours program instead. But I didn't see the article you're talking about (will look it up now!) so perhaps there has been an increase in north students at SW recently.

My source was the Strib, and that's what they wrote.

[Radical_Car]

Tech High School in St cloud made the top 50 and Apollo, Sauk Rapids and Sartell all didn't
Im a graduate from Tech and am pleasantly surprised that it made it and the others like Sartell didn't

Sad that Annandale isn't on there