At Saint Paul Public Schools (SPPS), our mission is both bold and simple: to inspire students to think critically, pursue their dreams and change the world.
SPPS is Minnesota's second-largest school district, educating over 33,000 students across 68 schools. Highly trained and deeply dedicated staff, cutting-edge academic programs, and strong community support are among the district’s hallmarks. Our students speak more than 115+ languages, sharing their ideas and cultures with their classmates and teachers every single day.
St. Paul High School, Tenth and Minnesota, St. Paul, 1886. - Minnesota Historical Society photo.
When the Minnesota Territory was formed, the three existing "cities" were St. Paul, St. Anthony (present-day Minneapolis), and Stillwater. The cities competed for the home of the three most important institutions. St. Paul became the capitol, St. Anthony gained the university (University of Minnesota), and Stillwater gained the prison.
in 1856, a small group of citizens decided that a school district must be established. The mindset was that if excellence is the goal, then “good schools would attract good settlers.” In 2007, our district proudly served more than 41,000 students.
Source: "The Minnesota Territory." A lecture by Dr. William E. Lass
Watch "Saint Paul Public Schools: 150 Years of Excellence"
A Brief History
In 1847, Harriet Bishop traveled from Vermont to the small but growing city in the West, St. Paul. As part of a program led by educational reformer Catharine Beecher to send women teachers to help educate and civilize frontier children, Bishop was the first of her class to volunteer to go West. She came to the area that would soon become the Minnesota Territory to both educate the children of St. Paul and to exert her moral influence on the rough frontier town. Convinced that women were capable of teaching morality, Bishop became active in many moral issues such as temperance, educational reform, and women's suffrage. She is credited with starting the first public school in St. Paul and the first Sunday school, which led to the first Baptist church in the area.
1856: Saint Paul’s first school board consisted of nine elective and two ex-officio members.
1870: Two students, Fannie Hayes and A. P. Warren became the first two students to graduate from Saint Paul high school.
1879: Saint Paul High School has eight teachers and a principal, which this high school became known as Central High School.
1897: Grover Cleveland High School opened, which later renamed Johnson Senior High School in 1911.
1906: 27,940 students attended SPPS
1914: Saint Paul city government seized power of all school matters, equivalent to the school board.
1950: Saint Paul Public Schools Board of Education was re-established again after years of intense campaigning by civic-minded citizens.
1954: The United States Supreme Court ruled that public education between minority groups and the majority could not be “equal” if it remained “separate.
1960: Hazel Park JHS offers more than 40 subjects in its Adult Education program.
1964: Saint Paul Public Schools addressed the concerns of racial imbalance in the school district by developing resolutions that students have equal educational access.
1970-73: Arts Education at SPPS was being evaluated, and SPPS considered adding more arts programs to the schools.
1991: Saint Paul’s high school graduation rate is 73%, among the highest in the country.
2004: Feb. 28: More than 6,000 supporters including students, parents and school staff rallied at the Capitol for the state to support education funding.
Wendell Richard "Wendy" Anderson (born February 1, 1933) is an American politician and was the 33rd Governor of Minnesota from January 4, 1971 to December 29, 1976. In late 1976, he resigned the governor's office in order to be named U.S. Senator to replace Walter Mondale, who had been elected Vice President of the United States. He served in the U.S. Senate from December 30, 1976 until his term ended on December 29, 1978.
Anderson was born in Saint Paul in 1933. He attended Johnson High School and went on to the University of Minnesota, where he received a B.A. in 1954. He later served in the United States Army during 1956 and 1957 and earned his law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1960.
Louie Perry Anderson (born March 24, 1953) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and television host. Anderson created the cartoon series Life with Louie, has written three books, and was the initial host of the third revival of the game show Family Feud, from 1999 to 2002.
Growing up in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Louie Anderson was the second-youngest of 11 children in his family. He went to Johnson Senior High.
Herb with Saint Paul Johnson in 1955 (bottom row, second from left)
Herbert Paul Brooks
Born on August 5, 1937, Herb Brooks grew up in a modest duplex at the corner of Payne and Ivy Streets, on the East side of Saint Paul. Herb got his first taste of championship hockey when he led his Saint Paul Johnson squad to the Minnesota high school title in 1955. He would then go on to play at the University of Minnesota under legendary Coach John Mariucci, where he tallied 45 points from 1957-59. From there, Herbie went on to play on several U.S. National and Olympic teams from 1962-70.
Warren E. Burger
Warren Earl Burger (September 17, 1907 – June 25, 1995) was the 15th Chief Justice of the United States from 1969 to 1986.
Burger was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1907, and one of seven children. His parents, Katharine (née Schnittger) and Charles Joseph Burger, a traveling salesman and railroad cargo inspector, were of Swiss German descent. His grandfather, Joseph Burger, had emigrated from Switzerland and joined the Union Army when he was 14. Joseph Burger fought and was wounded in the Civil War, and was awarded the Medal of Honor.
Burger grew up on the family farm near the edge of Saint Paul. He attended John A. Johnson High School, where he was president of the student council. He competed in hockey, football, track, and swimming. While in high school, he wrote articles on high school sports for local newspapers. He graduated in 1925.
That same year, Burger also worked with the crew building the Robert Street Bridge, a crossing of the Mississippi River in Saint Paul that still exists. Concerned about the number of deaths on the project, he asked that a net be installed to catch anyone who fell, but was rebuffed by managers. In later years, Burger made a point of visiting the bridge whenever he came back to town.
Burger attended night school at the University of Minnesota while selling insurance for Mutual Life Insurance. Afterward, he enrolled at William Mitchell College of Law (then the St. Paul College of Law), receiving his degree magna cum laude in 1931. He took a job at the firm of Boyensen, Otis and Faricy, now known as Moore, Costello & Hart. In 1937, Burger served as the eighth president of the Saint Paul Jaycees. He also taught for twelve years at William Mitchell.
Carey was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in April 1996.
Born April 30, 1957 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Married to the former Cheryl Ann Tobritzhofer of St. Paul, Minnesota. They have two children. He enjoys motorcycle travel, racing motorcross, camping, reading science fiction. His parents reside in Minneapolis. Her mother resides in St. Paul Minnesota. Her father is deceased.
Digger graduated from Highland Park High School in 1975; received a bachelor of science degree in aerospace engineering and mechanics and a master of science degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis in 1981 and 1982, respectively
Amelia Earhart
Amelia Mary Earhart (July 24, 1897 – disappeared July 2, 1937) was an American aviation pioneer and author. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She received the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross for this record. She set many other records, wrote best-selling books about her flying experiences and was instrumental in the formation of The Ninety-Nines, an organization for female pilots. Earhart joined the faculty of the Purdue University aviation department in 1935 as a visiting faculty member to counsel women on careers and help inspire others with her love for aviation. She was also a member of the National Woman's Party, and an early supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment.
Earhart's father briefly worked as a clerk for the Great Northern Railway in Saint Paul, where Earhart enrolled in Central High School as a junior. After Earhart's father lost his job, Earhart's mother took her children to Chicago where they lived with friends. Amelia eventually was enrolled in Hyde Park High School in Chicago.
Jawed Karim is a German/Bangladeshi-American internet entrepreneur, best known for being a co-founder of YouTube and the first person to upload a video on it. Many of the core components of PayPal, including its real-time anti-fraud system, were also designed and implemented by Karim.
Karim was born in Merseburg, East Germany, but crossed the Inner German border with his family in 1981 and grew up in Neuss, West Germany. He graduated from Central High School and later attended theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Department of Computer Science. He left campus prior to graduating to become an early employee at PayPal, but continued his coursework, earning his Bachelor of Science in computer science. He subsequently earned a master's degree in computer science from Stanford University.
Karim's father, Naimul Karim, is a Bangladeshi researcher at 3M. His mother, Christine Karim, is a German scientist and research associate professor of biochemistry at the University of Minnesota.
Mint Condition is an American R&B band from Saint Paul, Minnesota. Formed in the mid 1980s at Central High School in Saint Paul, Minnesota, its original members were Stokley Williams (lead vocals, drums, percussion), Homer O'Dell (guitar), Larry Waddell (keyboards, piano), Roger Lynch (son of Roger Troutman), Ray Coleman and Kenny Young. Lynch, Coleman and Young all left the group however and were replaced by schoolmates Keri Lewis (keyboards, synthesizer) and Jeffrey Allen (saxophone, keyboards) along with Chicago native Ricky Kinchen (bass guitar). This lineup of Williams, O'Dell, Waddell, Allen, Lewis and Kinchen comprised the classic lineup of the band.
The group is well known for its diverse musical style (able to play anything from traditional jazz stylings to mainstream R&B and rock-based music to funkgrooves and even Latin and Jamaican-based rhythms) and also its captivating live performances. The band is also well known for their well written and produced R&B ballads, mainly in the 1990s. They are mostly known for their hits "Breakin' My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes)" (1991) and "What Kind of Man Would I Be" (1996).
Charles Monroe Schulz (November 26, 1922 – February 12, 2000), nicknamed Sparky, was an American cartoonist, best known for the comic strip Peanuts (which featured the characters Snoopy and Charlie Brown, among others). He is widely regarded as one of the most influential cartoonists of all time, cited as a major influence by many later cartoonists.
Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Schulz grew up in Saint Paul. He was the only child of Carl Schulz, who was born inGermany, and Dena Halverson, who had Norwegian heritage. His uncle called him "Sparky" after the horse Spark Plug in Billy DeBeck's comic strip, Barney Google.
Schulz loved drawing and sometimes drew his family dog, Spike, who ate unusual things, such as pins and tacks. In 1937, Schulz drew a picture of Spike and sent it toRipley's Believe It or Not!; his drawing appeared in Robert Ripley's syndicated panel, captioned, "A hunting dog that eats pins, tacks, and razor blades is owned by C. F. Schulz, St. Paul, Minn." and "Drawn by 'Sparky' (C.F. was his father, Carl Fred Schulz).
Schulz attended Richard Gordon Elementary School in Saint Paul, where he skipped two half-grades. He became a shy, timid teenager, perhaps as a result of being the youngest in his class at Central High School. One well-known episode in his high school life was the rejection of his drawings by his high school yearbook. A five-foot-tall statue of Snoopy was placed in the school's main office 60 years later.
Harold Edward Stassen (April 13, 1907 – March 4, 2001) was the 25th Governor of Minnesota from 1939 to 1943. After service in World War II, he was president of the University of Pennsylvania from 1948 to 1953. In popular culture, his name has become most identified with his fame as a perennial candidate for other offices, most notably and frequently President of the United States.
Stassen, the third of five children, was born in West St. Paul, Minnesota, to Elsie Emma (née Mueller) and William Andrew Stassen, a farmer and several-times mayor of West St. Paul. His mother was German and his father was born in Minnesota, to German and Czech parents. He graduated from high school at age 14. At the University of Minnesota, Stassen was an intercollegiate debater, captain of the champion university rifle team in 1927, and received bachelor's and law degrees in 1929. After opening a law office with Elmer J. Ryan in South St. Paul that year, he was elected District Attorney of Dakota County in 1930 and 1934, then elected Governor of Minnesota in 1938.
Dave Winfield, athlete, administrator and corporate executive, was born Oct. 3, 1951.
David Mark Winfield was born in Saint Paul. He and his older brother Stephen were the sons of Arline V. Winfield, whom he has often acknowledged as a beacon of support in his life. Winfield attended Central High School and earned a scholarship to the University of Minnesota, where he starred in both basketball and baseball for the Golden Gophers. After hitting and pitching the Gophers to the College World Series in 1973, he was drafted by the San Diego Padres, a baseball team, the Minnesota Vikings, although he did not play college football, the Atlanta Hawks and the Utah Stars of the ABA, both basketball teams. He is one of only two men ever drafted in three different pro sports.
SPPS offers a welcoming environment for all students. Choose a neighborhood community school for a close-knit feel or explore our diverse magnet programs.
Students can participate in dual credit options, career and technical education, and rigorous course work leading to college credit, certification, and/or industry credentials.
Picking the best school for your child is one of the hardest decisions a parent has to make. At SPPS, we have the right school for your child to meet their full potential.
Full Day Pre-Kindergarten
From the first day of Pre-K, we strive to make your child’s introduction to elementary school easy and fun. Our Pre-K program offers foundational skills in reading, writing and math; social-emotional development; family education and support; dual language programs in French, Hmong and Spanish; and small class sizes.
Families love our community schools, where many students live in the neighborhood and enjoy walking or biking to school with their friends. At a community school, you will be part of a family of teachers, students and neighbors that will support you and your child every step of the way.
Our magnet schools are a great choice for families who want a specialized school experience. Our magnet options include language immersion in Spanish, French, Mandarin and Hmong; International Baccalaureate (IB); gifted and talented; aerospace and engineering; polytechnic; music and visual arts; STEM and more.
Magnet programs have an enrollment pathway that provides a natural progression for education from Pre-K through high school.
Students can participate in dual credit options, career and technical education, and rigorous course work leading to college credit, certification, and/or industry credentials. Students in our Career Pathway program explore high-demand, high-wage careers that match their skills and interests.
Saint Paul Public Schools Community Education offers parent and early childhood education from birth to kindergarten. Classes take place at seven locations throughout St. Paul. All classes have three components: parent and child together time, parent time, and child time.
The Birth to Three Early Intervention program provides year-round services at no cost to families. An Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) is developed based on parent priorities for their child’s development. Services occur within the natural routines of the home, at Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) or a child care center.
Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) services for 3- to 4-year-old children are provided in SPPS Pre-K classrooms (age 4), in SPPS ECSE classrooms, in community daycare or preschool sites, at Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE), Head Start or at home.
Early Childhood Screening helps identify the health and developmental needs of young children before they enter kindergarten. The screening is required by Minnesota law for entrance into kindergarten in public schools. Screenings are free and available to children who are 3-5 years old. Priority is given to children who live in St. Paul.
Saint Paul Public Schools provides English language development and education for students whose home language is not English (approximately 30 percent of SPPS students).
Students with disabilities deserve the same school experience as their peers in general education/traditional classrooms. SPPS also has dedicated special education programs that provide support and services for students with needs that may not be met in traditional school settings.
