ST. LOUIS PARK HIGH SCHOOL
6425 W. 33rd Street

Many thanks to Carolyn Charles, retired Park High teacher and official historian of St. Louis Park Schools, for much of the following information and pictures.

St. Louis Park Senior High School was built in 1956 at a cost of $3.5 million. The land has previously been used as a skating rink, although several houses on the west side of the property had to be removed.

Things got off to a rough start, as the Minneapolis Star reported on a crisis at the new high school: “It all started…when an early-morning disk jockey plugging ‘Oscar Socks’ urged students to don knee-highs of one design left leg, contrasting design right leg. Girls responded in droves…But Principal Edward Foltmer…suppressed the fad promptly. ‘We’d be opposed to any distracting influence at school,’ he explained with a cautious smile. ‘We can’t allow bizarre clothing.’ A bag lunch protest last Friday, with many girls wearing black and spurning the school’s hot lunch, followed. Boys at St. Louis Park High came to the girls’ rescue. ‘The boys wore their shirt tails out in protest after we weren’t allowed to wear Oscar Socks,’ student Elaine Smedberg said. ‘But the administration made ‘em pull the shirt tails in. So the boys hiked up their pants, wore them around their ribs. Then a week ago, about 15 boys peroxided their hair.’ Next morning, ‘the kids hissed the principal and started singing “Chain Gang” in school,’ other girls reported.” The School’s student council came to the rescue and calmed the situation down. The PTA put a teenage dress code on its next agenda. [In other wardrobe-related news, students were no longer allowed to wear blue jeans to the new high school for fear the rivets would scratch the new desks, etc.]

Construction of the "Circle" began in July 1961, starting Park students on a dizzying odyssey around the hallways. It was designed by Gene Green of Bissel and Blair. Detailed pictures of its construction are featured in the 1962-63 Echowan. The addition cost $1,350,000 and was designed to accommodate 800 students. In place, the school could handle 2,400 students – there were 1,500 in 1960. The Echowan claimed that this circular addition “was the first of its kind to be used in the State of Minnesota.”

The so-called "McDonald's wing" was added in 1967, at a cost of $10 million. The new space was generally used for vocational training such as advertising, secretarial skills, machine shop, printing, drafting, nursing, etc. Also new was an expanded art room, an orchestra room, and a room set aside for the school’s blind students. A new track was also completed. Enrollment was 2,468 students.

In 1970 there were a record 790 graduates. That year there were 11,600 students in the system and 900 employees.

1971 saw the arrival of Anita Silbert, hall monitor, counselor, and friend to hundreds of Park High students over the next 30+ years. Anita has an uncanny knack for remembering faces, and can spot a non-student troublemaker from 30 paces. By 1977, Assistant Principal Wanio was calling her “an institution within an institution.”

1983

In 1993, major remodeling was done to the Media/Technology Center (library) and the second floor circle. Design flaws had the outside wall pulling away from the floors, leaving gaps at the outside edge of some of the third floor classrooms. A new, accessible front entrance was built as well.

In 2001, the third floor of the 33rd Street side was remodeled to provide updated science classroom. Also, additional gym space was added along the railroad tracks.

See the school’s web site at http://www.slpschools.org/sh/.

Home    St. Louis Park History    History Index    About the Society    Research Resources
Brookside Timeline    Something In The Water    The Re-Echo    Contact Us

This information comes from a variety of sources: newspapers, books, yearbooks, phone directories, interviews, etc. Given the varied sources, we cannot guarantee that all of this information is correct, and welcome any additions and corrections. Please contact us with your contributions and comments.