Minnetonka High School

Minnetonka High School, or MHS (locally referred to as Tonka or Tonka High), is a four-year public high school located in Minnetonka, Minnesota, United States, a western suburb of Minneapolis-St. Paul. The school enrolls about 3,540 students, and offers four interchangeable academic curricula: International Baccalaureate, Advanced Placement, Honors, and G (general). Newsweek ranked the school at #123 in their list of America's Top High Schools. Minnetonka High School is currently rated #3 in public high schools in Minnesota by Niche.

Minnetonka High School is the only high school within Minnetonka School District, whose enrollment area comprises western Minnetonka, northern Chanhassen, Deephaven, Excelsior, Greenwood, Shorewood, Tonka Bay, Woodland, northern Victoria, and northern Eden Prairie; an area known as "South Lake Minnetonka," or simply "Minnetonka." Additionally, students come from all over the western suburbs due to open enrollment.

Demographics

Minnetonka High School has the second largest enrollment of any high school in Minnesota, behind neighboring Lake Conference rival Wayzata High School. As of 2017, it has a student population of 3,444 that is 0.5% Native American 4.8% Hispanic, 3.7% black, 6.5% Asian, and 80.2% white. Minnetonka School District's catchment area has a population of 53,000 and is characterized as a bedroom community. It is predominantly white with a strong Scandinavian influence, and is considered one of the most affluent areas in the state. Since the 2000s, Minnetonka has actively tried to recruit a more diverse student body through advertising and participation in The Choice Is Yours program to serve inner regions of the Twin Cities metropolitan area.

Academics

Minnetonka High School has been shown to fare well in standardized test results and many metrics of school rank and quality. It is one of the few schools in the state to concurrently run Advanced Placement classes and the IB Diploma Programme. The school also offers Honors and G (general) classes which, unlike AP and IB, do not have curricula mediated by an external governing entity, and are meant to be less demanding.

It is identified as a "National School of Excellence" by the U.S. Department of Education, and has been given a "Five Star" rating by the Minnesota Department of Education. According to No Child Left Behind Minnetonka High School made Adequate Yearly Progress in 2006.

Specialty programs

VANTAGE

VANTAGE Professional Studies is a program offered by Minnetonka High School offering a businesslike environment for students. Minnetonka High School's VANTAGE is a magnet program which is ranked sixth in the country for developing students with strong business and entrepreneurial leadership skills. Students go off campus for part of their school day and have class in an office building. Students are expected to act and dress professionally. Students are provided with projects with local and Fortune 500 companies. They are also provided with mentors who work in a field related to their class. Currently (2022–23) there are nine course "strands" that are being offered:

• Global Business
• Business Analytics
• Design and Marketing
• Digital Journalism
• Health Sciences
• Public Policy
• Global Sustainability
• User Experience (UX) Design
• Vantage Education

Tonka Online

Minnetonka High School also offers some of its courses through Tonka Online. It is available to all students in the state of Minnesota. Currently (2016–17), There are 28 courses offered. The classes are delivered through Schoology, Minnetonka's CMS. Fees are charged for students who are taking them as extra courses or over the summer.

Minnetonka Research

Minnetonka Research offers students the opportunity to learn through scientific research. The school built a "cutting-edge", negative-pressure, wet lab to allow students to research topics that are important to them. Alike VANTAGE, Minnetonka Research provides its students with mentors who are industry leaders in their field of study. In addition to this, many of the students in Minnetonka research compete in the Minnesota State Science and Engineering Fair, and many of go on to compete in the International Science and Engineering Fair(ISEF).

MOMENTUM

MOMENTUM, a state-of-the-art Technology Education program, is Minnetonka High School’s newest specialty program. It allows students to explore careers with hands on training in Construction Systems, Manufacturing, Design, and Transportation. The program began during the 2020-21 school year, providing a trade school experience without leaving the campus. MOMENTUM also partners with local businesses, to teach about their fields.

Writing Center

Minnetonka also offers a writing center to allow all students a place to receive assistance on their work. It is located in the commons. The writing center is staffed by two English teachers and 30 trained student writing coaches. The program is funded by the Minnetonka Public Schools Foundation's Endowment.

Athletics

Minnetonka High School is part of the Lake Conference in the Minnesota State High School League. The school mascot is a Skipper.

Notable alumni

• Nancy Parsons (1960), actress
• Keith Nord (1975), former American football defensive back in the National Football League
• Lee Blessing (1967), Pulitzer and Tony nominated playwright
• Steve Comer (1972), former MLB Pitcher
• Eric Bischoff (1973), American entrepreneur, television producer, professional wrestling booker, podcast host, and on-screen personality
• Thomas O. Staggs (1978), former Chief Operating Officer, The Walt Disney Company
• David Wheaton (1988), former professional tennis player
• Peter A. Selfridge (1989), U.S. public servant who served as the United States Chief of Protocol from 2014 to 2017
• Arick Wierson (1990), Emmy-award-winning Hollywood Film and Television Producer
• Jim Brower (1991), former MLB Pitcher
• Dmitry Chaplin (2000), Russian dancer and Emmy nominated choreographer
• Will Leer (2003), American mid-distance runner
• Jake Gardiner (2008), American professional ice hockey defenseman
• Beau Allen (2010), NFL nose tackle for the New England Patriots
• Haley Kalil (2010), Sports Illustrated swimsuit model
• Ryan McCartan (2011), American actor and singer
• John Mark Nelson (2012), American songwriter and producer
• Vinni Lettieri, professional ice hockey player for the Providence Bruins
• Justin Holl, professional ice hockey player
• Jan Malcolm, Health Commissioner of Minnesota
• K'Andre Miller, professional ice hockey player for the New York Rangers
• Terry Katzman, producer, sound engineer, archivist, and record-store owner
• Tyler Heim, professional model

Feeder schools

References

External links

• Official website
• Official Minnetonka Football Website
• Minnetonka High School iPads