Central High School (Saint Paul, Minnesota)

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**Saint Paul Central High School**

Established	1866
Type of institution	Public
Principal	Mary Mackbee
Enrollment	2102
Location	St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
Colors	Red and Black
Mascot	Minuteman
Information	(651) 632-6000
Website	http://central.spps.org/

Central High School of St. Paul, is the oldest high school in the US state of Minnesota. Founded in 1866 in downtown Saint Paul, Central has educated many leaders in business, government, literature, arts, sciences, and education throughout the state of Minnesota and the United States. Central was also home to more Rhodes Scholars than any other public high school in the U.S. with the most recent scholar, Matthew Landreman, being announced in 2003.

It is also one of the biggest high schools in the state and the second largest in the city of St. Paul (after Harding High School).^[1] It is a national Blue Ribbon School.

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

[edit] History

The school was founded in 1866 in a two room building in downtown Saint Paul, and named St. Paul High School. The first graduating class, in 1870, consisted of two students.

A new building opened in 1893, and the school was renamed St. Paul Central High School; the school moved again in 1912, and was attempted to be renamed Lexington High School; alumni, however, decided to keep the moniker Central High School -- a compromise was reached when the Minuteman was adopted as a logo and mascot. Rebuilding and modernization took place in the 1970s and 80s.

Central offers many higher level classes, such as the IB and the AP programs. It also started its own advanced program, called Quest, which uses a discussion-based approach towards learning.

[edit] Trivia

Central is the oldest continuously operating high school in Minnesota.
Central is the only five story school in the state.
Central's yearbook is called CEHISEAN, (seh-HEE-zee-ehn) which stands for Central High Senior Annual.
The school was remodeled in the late 1970's and early 1980's, and it is an in-joke amongst students that it was designed by a prison architect because of the school's rather utilitarian exterior, metal gates, and few windows on ground level. Until recently, a barbed wire fence extended around portions of the school facing Interstate 94 and Lexington Avenue, contributing to the joke.

[edit] Notable alumni

Charles M. Schulz, author of the Peanuts comic strip.
Gordon Parks, photographer, filmmaker, and writer.
Dave Winfield, Baseball Hall of Fame left fielder.
Heiruspecs, underground hip-hop group.
Mint Condition, R&B/Funk band, known for the hit "Breaking My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes)".
Richard M. Schulze, founder of Best Buy.
Jawed Karim, co-founder of YouTube.