Eagan High School | |
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Address | |
4185 Braddock Trail Eagan, Minnesota USA |
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Information | |
Type | Public high school |
Motto | Technology Enhanced Education With A Human Touch |
Established | 1990 |
School district | ISD 196 |
Principal | Polly Reikowski |
Faculty | 182 |
Grades | 9–12 |
Enrollment | 2,403 |
Color(s) | Royal blue, Kelly green, silver |
Mascot | Wildcat |
Yearbook | Epilogue |
Website | www |
Eagan High School (EHS) is a public high school in east-central Eagan, Minnesota. The school opened in fall 1989 for ninth-grade students and for grades ten through twelve the following year. It is particularly noted for its fine arts programs and use of technology. As of 2007, it has over 2400 students.
The school is a part of Minnesota Independent School District 196 (Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan School District), and is affiliated with the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL). The school was a member of the Lake Conference from their first year until the 2010–11 school year when they joined the South Suburban Conference(MN).
In the 1970s and 1980s, Eagan began to grow rapidly, due to the completion of I-35E, I-494 and the new Cedar Avenue Bridge. During those years, high school students from Eagan who lived within the District 196 boundaries were attending nearby Rosemount High School and Apple Valley High School. Both of these high schools were greatly over capacity. In June 1987, Thomas F. Wilson was appointed as "Principal on Special Assignment" in charge of planning a new high school and middle school on a site that had been purchased years earlier for the purpose of a new high school in Eagan. Because the district was very cautious with the funding, it was decided to incorporate the new Dakota Hills Middle School on the same site. The $33 million building was designed by Hammel, Green and Abrahamson (HGA). HGA had been the district's architectural firm for thirty years, but the school board later adopted a different firm after issues with the EHS/DHMS construction project.
During an era when it was revealed that the U. S. military was being charged $400 for hammers, $700 for toilet seats, and aircraft carrier costs were double the original bids, it was widely reported in the print and electronic media that there were serious "cost over runs" in the constructions costs for the school. In actuality, the school was built in four different bid phases (called fast tracking-necessary due to earlier bond issue defeats) and bids on the fourth phase, anticipated to be approximately $27 million, came in at $33 million. Because the school district simply did not have the money for that large bid, the bid was rejected. Dr. Wilson, Superintendent Dr. Red Rehwalt and Assistant Superintendent Dr. John Hanson spent several months working with HGA officials to trim elements of phase four to get its costs in line with the bond revenues available from the public approval process. This work caused a delay in the construction time line and time and spawned a lawsuit.