Minnehaha Academy, Bloomington Campus, includes preschool though 5th grade.

Service Learning

Bloomington students are always enthusiastic about serving others. The RACERS, our student leadership group, recently joined their South Campus counterparts at Feed My Starving Children. The first graders collected hats and mittens for the Children’s Home Society. Third grade is currently conducting a book drive for an inner city elementary school. With the snow finally gone, several classes picked-up trash all around the campus and church. We are fortunate to be able to answer Christ’s call to serve others in so many ways.

Off-Campus Learning

Field trips are an integral part of the learning experience for our students. As a smaller campus, we are often able to take all the students to special events. All grades have attended the Minnesota Orchestra this year and most were able to tour the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. The third grade went to a wonderful center in Edina called “The Works” where their science unit on simple machines was enriched by making catapults. Fourth-grade teacher Bob Noble took the fourth and fifth grades to Lakewood Cemetery where many Minnesota historical figures are buried. Each student prepared and presented a short report at the gravesite of his/her assigned person and put a flag by the marker. The entire school was able to attend fitness seminars and a Minnesota Twins baseball game at the Metrodome in April. Our French teacher, Andrea Reinsmoen, took a group of students to the Concordia Language Village for a weekend of French fun and food.

Test Scores

Our students consistently score well on the standardized tests we administer: the Cognitive Abilities Test (4th grade), the Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test (3rd and 5th grades), and the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (3rd and 5th grades). This year our 4th graders’ composite percentile rank on the CogAT was 80% with over one-fourth of the class scoring in the 90th percentile. The SDRT results in 3rd grade showed 60% of the students reading two grade levels above; the 5th grade had three students reading at the high school level and three more reading at the 8th grade level. The Iowa Test results were equally impressive with 90% of third grade and 100% of fifth grade scoring above 85% in the national percentile rankings. The average ACT score for Minnehaha 2008 graduates who have attended the Bloomington Campus was 27.7 – tying the highest average in Minnesota.

Preschool

Our academic preschool is a full time program for 4-year-olds. Preschoolers have the same school day as our students in grades K-5: 8:50 am to 3:25 pm Fun ‘N Friends (FNF) is available after school. We are able to offer FNF before school if needed. Children need to be age 4 by September 1 to enroll in this preschool. Preschool children will have French, music, PE, art, computer and library in addition to their classroom time. They will have daily rest time and separate recess time. We provide lunches through Bloomington Public Schools as we do for our older students.

Announcing Fridays at the Bloomington Campus

Have your child experience a day at the Bloomington Campus. Fridays are designated days to shadow and tour the campus. To register, contact Heidi Shannon at (612) 728-7758.