Benilde-St. Margaret's School

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Benilde-St. Margaret's School

Pietas (Duty) Veritas (Truth) Scientia (Knowledge)
Established	1907
School type	Private
Religious affiliation	Roman Catholic Church
President	Dr. Bob Tift
Location	St. Louis Park, Minnesota, USA
Campus	1 Campus, suburban setting
Enrollment	1,150
Faculty	95
Average class size	21.3
Student:teacher ratio	12:1
Athletics	26 varsity sports
Color(s)	Red and White
Mascot	Red Knight
Conference	North Suburban Conference

Benilde-St. Margaret's School, named after Saint Bénilde Romançon and Saint Margaret of Scotland, is a Catholic, co-educational private school for grades 7-12 located in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, that draws its over one thousand students from throughout the Twin Cities Metro Area.

1 History
2 Notable alumni
3 Activities
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

Benilde-St. Margaret's School was originally a secondary school formed by a merger in the 1970s between St. Margaret's High School, a Catholic secondary school for girls in Minneapolis, and Benilde High School, a Catholic secondary school for boys in St. Louis Park. Its present building was originally that of Benilde High School.

[edit] St. Margaret's Academy

St. Margaret's was founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet in 1907 as St. Margaret’s Academy^[1]. The campus for this all-girls school was located near the Basilica of St. Mary in downtown Minneapolis and included two mansions and a carriage house that had been built in the 1880s. By 1959 the old school had become inadequate in size - for every 100 girls accepted, about 200 were turned away. The Sisters of St. Joseph, who had anticipated such a problem, had purchased twenty-eight acres, and by 1960 a new school was built on Upton Avenue, near the Eloise Butler Wildflower Gardens and Wirth Park.

[edit] Benilde High School

The Christian Brothers, under the direction of Brother Mark Sullivan, built a boys' school - Benilde High School in the Minneapolis suburb of St. Louis Park in 1957.

[edit] Merger

Both schools operated independently until the 1970s, at which time enrollment began to decline and costs began to escalate. In 1974, the St. Margaret’s facility was sold to the Minneapolis school system, and the merged Benilde-St. Margaret’s High School opened its door at the former Benilde High School site. One hundred ninety students graduated in its first class.

[edit] Academics

Presently, Benilde-St. Margaret's students excel at College Entrance Exams.

BSM Class of 2006 Statistics
	BSM Average	MN Average	National Average
ACT	24.8	22.3	21.1
ACT Writing Test	8.7	7.7	N/A
ACT English/Writing	25.4	22.2	N/A
SAT Critical Reading	581	591	N/A
SAT Math	579	600	N/A
SAT Writing	577	574	N/A

[edit] Junior High School

It was not until 1989 that a junior high was added, and one hundred seventh- and eighth-graders were enrolled in the first year. The principal of the Junior High is Dr. Carol McNamara.

[edit] Laptop program

In 2006, Benilde-St. Margaret's Junior High got a laptop initiative that gave every 7th and 8th grader an Apple MacBook for academic use. In addition to the MacBooks for the students, every teacher in the school, both JH and SH, received a MacBook as well. All JH classrooms are equipped with sufficient technology to move BSM into the next decade. Smart Boards are part of the additions over the summer of 2006.

[edit] The Community of Benilde-St. Margaret's

Benilde-St. Margaret's Community Video

[edit] Little Knights

Benilde-St. Margaret's opened it's doors to the children of faculty and staff members in the form of an on-site daycare center. Housed in the North building of BSM, Little Knights is a great way for parents that are teachers at BSM to not be far from their kids. Little Knights is for children through the age of 4, or preschool.

[edit] Award for excellence

In May of 1998, Benilde-St. Margaret’s was named by the U.S. Department of Education as a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence, a title that can be recognized for five years. In honor of this award, the entire school was wrapped in blue ribbon for a day. In 2000, an aggressive capital campaign entitled "Enriching Our Legacy of Excellence" began. As part of this one-and-a-half-year project, a new chapel, library, classroom wing, performing arts center (featuring the James Hamburg Theater), and both senior and junior high administrative office spaces were built.

[edit] Notable alumni

Devean George, is a professional basketball player. George signed with the Dallas Mavericks as a free agent in August, 2006. George was previously with the Los Angeles Lakers where he was a member of three NBA championship teams.
Ian Wexler, is a professional soccer player with Longford Town F.C. in Ireland. He played collegiately at Providence College in Providence, RI. He captained the Red Knights to the 2000 Minnesota Class A state soccer championship.
Andrew Alberts, is a professional ice hockey defenseman who currently plays for the Boston Bruins of the NHL. He helped the Red Knights win the 1999 Minnesota Class A state hockey championship. Alberts played collegiately at Boston College from 2001-2005.

[edit] Activities

The school competes in the North Suburban Conference, along with its cross-town rival, St. Louis Park Senior High School, in the Minnesota State High School League. In recent years, the school has had a variety of successes in athletics and academic competitions, but it is perhaps most well known for its hockey, forensics (speech and debate), and soccer programs. For a complete listing of accomplishments in a particular activity, see the Trophy Case. The school's newspaper is the Knight Errant and its TV broadcast is Knightline News.

Team State Championships
Season	Sport	Number of Championships	Year
Fall	Soccer, Boys	4	1997, 2000, 2003, 2006
Winter	Alpine Skiing, Boys	1	2004
	Alpine Skiing, Girls	1	2000
	Hockey, Girls	2	2002, 2004
	Dance Team, Girls	3	1985, 1999, 2004
	Hockey, Boys	2	1999, 2001
	Basketball, Girls	1	2006
Spring	Golf, Boys	1	2003
Total		15

Individual State Championships
Season	Sport	Number of Championships	Year
Fall	Swimming & Diving, Girls	10	1978, 1978, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2002, 2003, 2003, 2004, 2004
	Tennis, Girls	1	2005
	Cross Country, Boys	2	1999, 2000
Spring	Golf, Boys	1	2003
Spring	Track & Field, Boys	4	2000, 2000, 2001, 2001
Total		18