Harding Senior High School - St. Paul, Minnesota/MN

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Harding Senior High School

1540 E 6th Street, St. Paul, MN, 55106-4898 -

tel: (651)793-4700
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Definition of Terms

Harding Senior High School

School Level

High school

Grades Offered

Grades 9 - 12

County

Ramsey County, MN

Students & Faculty

Total Students

2138 students

% Male / % Female

51% / 49%

Total Classroom Teachers

106 teachers

Students by Grade

Grade 9 - 610 students

Grade 10 - 576 students

Grade 11 - 515 students

Grade 12 - 437 students

This School

(MN) School Average

Teacher : Student Ratio

1:20

1:16

Students by Ethnicity

This School

(MN) School Average

% American Indian	2%	2%
% Asian	47%	6%
% Hispanic	9%	6%
% Black	21%	10%
% White	21%	74%

Additional Student Information

This School

(MN) School Average

% Eligible for Free Lunch

67%

27%

% Eligible for Reduced Lunch

10%

% Migrant Students Enrolled

n/a

n/a

(MN) Statewide Testing Performance

School Statewide Performance

View Education Department Test Scores

School District Name

St. Paul School District

This School's Agency

(MN) District Average

Number of Schools Managed	134	2
Number of Students Managed	42,221 students	562 students
District Total Revenue	$544,746,000	$5,407,000
District Expenditure	$557,123,000	$5,324,000
District Revenue / Student	$12,902	$9,036
District Expenditure / Student	$13,195	$8,954
District Graduation Rates	71%	95%

Harding Senior High School is located on the east side of St. Paul, Minnesota and is currently one of seven high schools in the St. Paul Public School District. It is also one of the biggest high schools in the state, reportedly also having an increasing numbers of violent incidents at the school. According to the Pioneer Press, Harding is tied with Central High School (Saint Paul, Minnesota) for most arrests made since the beginning of the school year, a statistic that has negatively affected Harding's reputation.
Education: Harding Senior High School is one of several schools participating in smaller learning communities. In a somewhat similar fashion to specific colleges within the University of Minnesota, smaller learning communities was implemented in the 2002-2003 school year to group students together that had similar interests for a career. Freshmen are automatically placed in the 9th Grade Academy, and the following year, select to be in the Academy of Fine Arts, the Medical and Environmental Sciences Academy (MESA), the Human Services Academy, or the Science, Engineering, & Information Technology Academy (SEIT). However, the Academies have been facing difficulties with the large student body and change has been slow. While academic performance has improved over the past few years, there is not enough data to associate the increase with smaller learning communities. One student from the class of 2006 was the recipient of the Gates Millennium Scholarship. This pays for 10 years of education.
(Skinny) IB: Motivated students who seek to be challenged academically can enroll in International Bacculerate courses. 9th and 10th grade students who enroll in IB courses are placed in what is called "skinny IB", taking three courses within two class periods with the same students throughout the year. Skinnies allow students in the IB program the option of participating in more electives and other coursed required for graduation without having to take summer courses. One of the problems that existed prior to the implementation of skinny IB classes was students not having enough slots because of the trimester schedule and only five classes per tri for a total of 15 slots per year, as opposed to quarters and semesters at other St. Paul schools, allowing for 16 slots per year. With most IB classes lasting all year, full-IB students would not have enough room to take other required courses not in the IB program, including health and physical education, forcing students to take them during the summer months.
Students who are in full IB also receive honors points which is factored into a students' GPA, although it will be discontinued beginning with the class of 2008, when they switch to a 12-point grading system. IB students can also register for the international IB exams, offering students the opportunity to earn college credit.
Electives: Harding High School's selection of elective courses allow students to experiment with their possible career interests while fulfilling the number of elective credits students need in order to graduate. Harding is the only school that has their own graphic arts center, which often produces clothing and programs for numerous schools in the district.
The television production program allows students to develop and make their own videos. In 2005, Harding started a cable show that is aired on channel 16, one of the five channels the Saint Paul Neighborhood Network operates. The show, entitled "Whatz up Harding," showcases student-produced videos. Every year, a number of seniors create a senior montage which displays footage captured on tape during their four years at Harding with a "narrative" musical selection in the background that reflects the mood of students for a given year. For example, the class of 2005 senior montage played "Hang On" by Smash Mouth for 2001-02 (freshman year), "Dig In" by Lenny Kravitz for 2002-03, "Our Lives" by The Calling for 2003-04, and it was the first to play two songs for their senior year. Specifically, "Breakaway" by Kelly Clarkson and "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" by Green Day.
The journalism program also boasts several strong suits with articles written by students being published in the National Spokesman-Recorder. That class gives students the opportunity to experience writing and publishing the student newspaper, The Beacon. In 2005, one of their students was named the Minnesota High School Journalist of the Year and would also go on to win several awards in various newspaper contests, including the Star Tribune's Metro Newspaper Writing Contest.
Fine Arts are very active at Harding. In addition to fulfilling elective requirements, the theater department performs three shows a year; a musical in the fall, the one-act play in the winter, and a non-musical play in the spring. Choir offers several additional challenges including Madrigals, an acapella group and music listening. Other electives include Rebellion, Creative Writing, Photography, Jewelry, Auto Tech, NJROTC etc.
There is a large after-school program with many clubs, tutoring and physical fitness outside of organized school sports. Volunteering is very strong at Harding led by such organizations as Fresh Force and Earth Club. Harding participates in the Department of Natural Resources Adopt-A-River program and actively involves students in recycling.
Athletics: Harding's athletic program offers many sports for all athletic abilities. Everyone is encouraged to participate, although enrollment has dropped considerably in recent years. In spite of this, the girls badminton team have won the state title five of the last seven years with championships in 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006, while placing in at least the top three in 2001 and 2005.
In the spring of 2005, Sade Pollard, a freshman at the time, won state titles in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes. In 2006, she swept all of the sprinting events, taking home state titles in the 100m, 200m and 400m runs. Interestingly, she was the only competitor from Harding to participate in the state meet that year, but scored enough points to give Harding a third place finish in the state tournament.
All sports are offered for both boys and girls, with exceptions for football, gymnastics, volleyball, wrestling and badminton. Other sports include soccer, tennis, swimming, cross-country, baseball/softball, Nordic skiing, basketball, hockey and golf. A number of student athletes have, after graduating, found success in collegiate sports.
Extracurricular activities: In addition to sports, Harding offers several, non-athletic related activities for students. They include, but are not limited to, S.E.A. Club, Speech Team, Upward Bound, Comic Club, Music Listening, Fresh Force, Math Team, etc.
Miscellaneous: Its chief rival is Johnson Senior High School, also located on the east side of St. Paul. Both football teams have an annual regular-season game where they play for the Hatchet trophy. The majority of the student body is made up of youth of Southeast-Asian descent. Upon the death of comedian Mitch Hedberg, students ran several pictures of him in student of the month columns for various academies along with the inscription "Mitch Hedberg, R.I.P. 1968-2005," to honor him. Hedberg graduated from Harding in 1986.
Notable alumni: Paul Holmgren, former NHL player who spent his career with the Philadelphia Flyers and Minnesota North Stars.
Mitch Hedberg, popular stand-up comedian.
Randy Kelly, Mayor of St. Paul from 2002-2006.
Bill Nygren, Owner of a multi-million dollar mutual fund, richest man to ever graduate from Harding.
Source: Wikipedia; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL
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About This Zip Code (55106)

School Zip (55106)

(MN) State Average

Population (Approximate)

54,296 people

4,666,598 people

% (age 25+) w/College Degree

21%

25%

Population Average Age

29 years old

34 years old

Average Household size

2.9 persons

2.5 persons

Median Household Income

$36,560

$49,158

Avg. # of Rooms in Household

5.1 rooms

5.7 rooms

Median Age of Housing Structure

58 years old

43 years old

View current housing listings in this area

Median Value of Housing Unit
Zipcode (55106)

What's a Zindex?
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% Owning / % Renting

63% / 37%

71% / 29%

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Weather: 10-day forecast or monthly climate averages.

Nearby Schools:


1. Face To Face Academy - 58 students - view location
2. General John Vessey Jr Leadership - 75 students - view location
3. Johnson Senior High School - 1639 students - view location
4. Pas East High School - 31 students - view location
5. Riverside Sp. Ed. Programs High School - 8 students - view location
View all schools in: St. Paul Town, Ramsey County, Zip 55106

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Note: Data has been gathered from several government and commercial data sources. School data reflects years 2002-04 statistics (most recent years available). Area and demographic data reflects year 2000 statistics. Public School Review does not ensure the timeliness or accuracy of the information on this site.

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