Benilde-St. Margaret's

Infobox Private School
background = #f0f6fa
border = #ccd2d9
name = Benilde-St. Margaret's


motto = Pietas (Duty) Veritas (Truth) Scientia (Knowledge)
established = 1907
type = Private
religion = Roman Catholic Church
head_name = President
head = Dr. Bob Tift
city = St. Louis Park
state = Minnesota
country = USA
campus = 1 Campus, suburban setting
enrollment = 1,154
faculty = 95
class = 21.3
ratio = 12:1
year =
SAT =
ACT =
athletics = 26 varsity sports
colors = Red and White
mascot = Red Knight
conference = [http://www.nsconference.org North Suburban Conference]
homepage = [http://www.bsm-online.org/ www.bsm-online.org]
patron = Saint Bénilde Romançon
Saint Margaret of Scotland

CEEB = 242-202|

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. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

History

Benilde-St. Margaret's School was originally a secondary school formed by a merger in the 1970s between St. Margaret's Academy, 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.

t. Margaret's Academy

St. Margaret's was founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet in 1907 as St. Margaret’s Academy [Benilde-St. Margaret's School Homepage, [http://www.bsm-online.org/bsmonline.aspx?pgID=874 History of Benilde-St.Margaret's] ] . 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.

Benilde High School

Christian Brothers, under the direction of Brother Mark Sullivan, built a boys' school in the Minneapolis suburb of St. Louis Park in 1956 due to the fact that De La Salle (the first all-boys Catholic high school in the west metro)

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 School opened its door at the former Benilde High School site. One hundred ninety students graduated in its first class.

The school has undergone two major additions since the merger; a new gym in 1986, along with a new chapel, theatre, arts center, and classroom wing in 2001.

Academics

Presently, Benilde-St. Margaret's students excel at college entrance exams.

References

External links

* [http://www.bsm-online.org Benilde-St. Margaret's Official Website]