St. Paul Academy

St. Paul Academy and Summit School is a private college preparatory day school in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, for students in grades K–12.

The school was established through a merger in 1969 of St. Paul Academy, a school for boys, and Summit School, a school for girls. St. Paul Academy was founded in 1900 and Summit School in 1917. Accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States, SPA is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools, the Cum Laude Society, and The College Board.

Recent commencement speakers have included Al Franken, Wilhelmina Wright, Coretta Scott King, and Garrison Keillor.

Academics

In the Upper School (grades 9–12), SPA has a college-preparatory liberal arts curriculum. SPA teaches an independent curriculum that does not follow either the AP or IB curriculum models, though individual students may opt to take AP tests. Courses have been taught using Harkness tables, distinctive elliptical wooden tables that seat 12–15 students, since 2005.

Athletics

The school mascot is a Spartan, and the school's main rivals are Breck School, Blake School and Minnehaha Academy. SPA offers 15 varsity sports, and 34 teams.

Hockey

SPA has the oldest varsity hockey squad in the state of Minnesota. The first official team was recorded in 1905. The opponents the team faced during the early years included local colleges St. Thomas as well as the University of Minnesota, which did not field a varsity team until a few years after the academy. The hockey team has won five Minnesota Independent School League (MISL) championships, in 1941, 1942, 1961, 1962, and 1974.

Campuses

The school consists of two campuses: the Goodrich Campus and the Randolph Campus.
*The Goodrich Campus, site of the old Summit School for girls, is the current home of the Lower School (grades K–5, ~290 students) and contains the Sarah Converse Auditorium, formerly the home of SPA theater productions. It is located at 1150 Goodrich Avenue.
*The Randolph Campus, site of the old St. Paul Academy for boys, is the current home of the Middle School (grades 6–8, ~240 students) as well as the Upper School (grades 9–12, ~380 students). Drake hockey arena, the Harry M. Drake Gallery, and the Huss Center for the Performing Arts are located on this campus, 1712 Randolph Avenue.
School hours are from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., (8:45 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesdays), with exceptions for after-school activities.

Academic teams

SPA currently has a Quiz Bowl team, which is registered with NAQT and participates in the Minnesota High School Quiz Bowl's East Division. SPA sent its A team to the NAQT High School National Championship Tournament in 2014, and both its A and B team in 2015 and 2016. They have continued to send teams in the past years, with one team going in 2017 and 2018. They also have competitive math, chess, debate and science teams. As of the 2014–2015 debate season, the debate team has made the Minnesota State High School Debate Tournament 14 straight years and 17 out of the last 18 years.

Notable alumni

*Laura Coates (1997) is an American attorney and legal analyst for CNN, as well as the host of the 11 p.m. hour of CNN Tonight. Since 2017, she has hosted a talk radio show, The Laura Coates Show, on SiriusXM's Urban View. In January 2021, The Laura Coates Show moved to SiriusXM's POTUS.
*Karen Ashe (1972) is director of Neurobiology of Alzheimer's Disease Research Laboratory at the University of Minnesota.
*Ann Bancroft (1974) was the first woman to successfully complete expeditions across the Arctic and Antarctic.
* Leo Cullen (1994) is a former soccer player.
*John Doar (1940) prominent civil rights attorney in the 1960s, who most notably defended James Meredith in his attempt to enroll in the then-segregated University of Mississippi. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012.
*F. Scott Fitzgerald attended the school from 1908 to 1911, though was asked to leave and did not graduate from the school. His works include ''The Great Gatsby'' and ''This Side of Paradise''.
*Bill Frenzel (1946) was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Minnesota.
* Christopher Gores (1996) played soccer professionally for a team in Puerto Rico.
* Reynolds Guyer (1953) invented the Nerf children's toys, along with inventing Twister.
* Stanley S. Hubbard (1951) is the founder of Hubbard Broadcasting, which owns TV stations across Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York, and New Mexico (including the Twin Cities ABC affiliate KSTP).
* Rebecca Jarvis (1999) is a financial reporter for CNBC and was a finalist on '' The Apprentice (Season 4).''
*Dave Kansas (1985) was the chief operating officer of American Public Media Group, a position that he assumed in 2011. Prior, Kansas was a journalist living in London and working for ''The Wall Street Journal''.
* Roger G. Kennedy (1944) served as Director of the National Park Service and of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. He was a Vice President of the Ford Foundation and has worked for the departments of Labor, Justice, Health and Human Services, and Education.
* Manuel Lagos (1990) Played soccer professionally and for the United States national team during the Olympics.
*Steven Levitt (1985) is the author of 2005 New York Times bestselling book ''Freakonomics''. He led the SPA Quiz Bowl team to nationals two years consecutively.
*John C. Lilly

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