Edina High School was ranked as 428th best public high school in the United States according to U.S. News & World Report.[4] Minnesota Department of Education certified Edina as a "Five Star School" and the U. S. Department of Education recognized it as a "National School of Excellence". Newsweek ranked the school #89 in their "List of the 1,200 Top High Schools in America",[5] and the Grammy Foundation selected it as one of forty-two "Signature Schools" recognizing Edina's contributions to music education. Ninety-five percent of seniors go on to college and eighty-six percent finish in five years. 30% of Edina graduates responded in a recent survey that they conducted 10 years after graduation they had completed graduate school degrees or were pursuing graduate degrees.[6]
A second high school, Edina West High School, opened in fall 1972, next to Valley View Junior High School, and Edina High School was renamed Edina East High School. Due to declining student enrollment, the two schools combined eight years later. Edina East closed in spring 1981, and the building eventually became the Edina Community Center, the district administrative offices and Welcome Center, and the home of Normandale Elementary school, while Edina West became Edina High School.
Before a high school opened in Edina, students looking to extend their education past eighth grade had to find their way down to the old Central High School at 4th Avenue and South 11th Street in Minneapolis.[7] By the 1940s some Edina students in grades 10 through 12 attended private high schools. Of those who could not afford to attend a private high school, some were enrolled at St. Louis Park High School while many others were being "farmed out" to West and Southwest High Schools in Minneapolis. In 1941, Minneapolis schools raised their tuition for out-of-city students, and despite the increase, Edina residents voted to pay the increased tuition rather than build their own high school.
During the mid-1940s, support for an Edina-Morningside junior and senior high school was increasing. However, World War II and the resulting shortage of building materials delayed construction of the Edina-Morningside Junior and Edina-Morningside Senior High School. But after the war, support for the new school began to resurface. Two sites for the new school had the most support. One was on the property that is currently occupied by the Edina Country Club near 50th Street and Wooddale Avenue and the other was at West 56th Street and Normandale Road. Although the 50th and Wooddale site was the center of the village's population at the time, the 56th and Normandale site was nearer to the school district's geographic center and was the eventual site chosen to build the new school.
The first high school to open in Edina, later known as Edina East, is now the site of the Edina Community Center and Normandale Elementary School. It was built as a combination high school/junior high. A $1.25 million school bond issue was passed in 1946 by the residents of Edina and ground was broken in October 1947. A year later the school was dedicated. It was not until the fall of 1949 that classes began and it was at that time that the student body chose the school colors (green and white) and the school mascot, the Hornet. The school had 28 classrooms, 11 special rooms and laboratories, a library and a special radio room. In 1952, one year after the first class graduated, a gymnasium and auditorium were added to the building.
In the 1960s, the high school was becoming overcrowded. As a result, on October 20, 1970, a $9.255 million bond issue was approved by voters to construct a new high school attached to Valley View Junior High School. Construction of the new high school began on May 24, 1971 and the school was opened in the fall of 1972. The Edina East High School retained the "Hornets" and Edina West High School became the "Cougars".
In 1981 Edina East was closed and Edina West was renamed Edina High School. The newly unified school decided on the "Hornets" nickname. Part of the old high school building was converted to the Edina kindergarten center in 1987 and the Edina Senior Center. As of 2015, the building is used as a community center, housing the Normandale French Immersion K-5 elementary school, the school district's main offices and the school district's Welcome Center.
In November 2003, city of Edina residents passed an $85.8 million bondreferendum[8] to renovate all school facilities in the district, with the high school undergoing major renovations. Construction began on the high school in May 2004 and was completed in 2007.
Edina High School completed its $60 million renovations in September 2017. As a result, Edina High School now contains space to host grades 9-12 instead of grades 10-12.
Extracurricular
The school yearbook is titled Whigrean, Meaning white and green annual.
The school newspaper is Zephyrus, and is a member of the High School National Ad Network
The school has a student-published literary arts magazine entitled Images [on the wind].
Debate: Edina has a nationally recognized debate team, which has been nationally ranked in the recent past (16th in 2009-10[9] and 19th in 2010-11)[10]
Edina has a nationally recognized FIRST Robotics Competition Team: Team 1816, "The Green Machine". They won the FIRST Championship The FIRST Impact Award (formerly the Chairman's Award),[11] the highest honor a robotics team can receive, earning them a spot in the Hall of Fame at the 2019 FIRST Championship[11]
Edina High School has had an Ultimate Frisbee program since 2003 that competes both locally in the Minnesota Ultimate High School League, and nationally through USA Ultimate-sanctioned tournaments. The Boys & Girls teams have combined to win a state record 12 State Championships. Girls Varsity in 2014, 2019, 2021 and 2022 [12] and Boys Varsity in 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024[13]
Athletics
Edina High School is a member of the Lake Conference of the Minnesota State High School League. Previously a member of the Lake Conference and the Classic Lake Conference, the school joined the new Lake Conference in 2010. Edina claims 207 athletic high school state championships, a state record, with most of them earned in tennis, swimming & diving, and boys hockey. In 2000, the school was recognized as the first school in the state of Minnesota to win more than 100 state championships. In 2019, the record was broken for most state championships won in a school year as Edina claimed 8 titles. The boys' hockey team has won a state-record fourteen [14] championships (including three titles by Edina East), eight under Willard Ikola alone. Edina held the record for most consecutive state championships in girls tennis with fifteen from 1978 to 1992.[15] In 2012, Edina broke their own record by winning nineteen straight state championships from 1997 to 2015. In June 2023, Edina was the first school in Minnesota to achieve 200 state championships.
In 2005, Sports Illustrated ranked Edina as the 8th best sports program in the United States.[16]
Key: E = Edina East, W = Edina West, * = Not included in MSHSL count
^ Prior to the inception of the Minnesota State High School League football tournament, the Edina Hornets were ranked #1 in the state for the following years: 1952, 1953, 1955, 1957, 1960, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1971
^ The 1999 state championship was a tie between Eden Prairie High School and Edina High School; this was the first tie at a state championship in Minnesota
Demographics
The class of 2014 was 82% White, 6% American Asian/Pacific Islander, 5% Black/African-American, 4% Hispanic/Latino, 2% Other, and 1% Native American.[19] The class was also 51% Male, 48.9% Female, and 0.2% Transgender.[19]
^"The Top of the Class". The complete list of the 1,200 top U.S. schools. MSNBC. 2007. Archived from the original on October 6, 2007. Retrieved May 23, 2007.
^Sullivan, Joe. (Spring 2003) "144-year-old Edina Public School System has a Proud Heritage". About Town. (Official Magazine of the City of Edina) PDFArchived 2008-05-29 at the Wayback Machine. p. 8-16.
