Burnsville High School

Burnsville Senior High School
File:BurnsvilleBlaze.jpg
Location
Burnsville , Minnesota USA
Information
Type	Public
Established	1957
Principal	Dr. Kay Joyce
Number of students	approx. 2,400
Mascot	Sparky
Colors	Black and Gold
Website	www.isd191.org/bhs

The front entrance of Burnsville High School.

Burnsville High School (BHS) is a three-year public high school located in Burnsville, Minnesota. The school is part of Independent School District 191, which covers all of Burnsville, as well as parts of the surrounding cities Savage and Eagan. A majority of the incoming sophomores come from Eagle Ridge Junior High, Metcalf Junior High, or Nicollet Junior High. The school mascot is Sparky, a humanoid with a fireball for a head.

History

Burnsville High School originally opened in 1957 as a K-12 school with an initial enrollment of about 400 students. In 1966, upon completion of the newly constructed school, students in grades seven through nine started attending Metcalf Junior High. Today, students attending Metcalf Junior High along with Eagle Ridge and Nicollet Junior High Schools will attend Burnsville Senior High School for grades 10-12.

On April 25, 1994, the largest high school arson ever in the United States was started and resulted in over 15 million dollars in damages (the same arsonist also started fires at Edina High School and Minnetonka High School) . During the restoration, high school students studied at Nicollet Junior High and Sky Oaks Elementary Schools. In 1998, the separate Senior Campus of Burnsville High School was opened to handle increased enrollment. Around the time of the fire, the school's mascot was changed from the Braves to the Blaze due to concerns about political correctness and the mascot's meaning to the Native American communities in the area. The name "Blaze" was thought of because of the word "Burnsville" in the school name, and had nothing to do with the fire as it was merely a coincidence.

File:Burnsville High School Senior Campus.jpg

Burnsville High School Senior Campus.

In 1997, the school board bought the Diamondhead Mall and converted the top level into the Senior Campus. A year later, in 1998, it was opened for use. Students can drive from campus to campus, or they take the shuttle bus. Many classes available only to 12th graders are offered at the Senior Campus. All 12th graders at Burnsville High School spend half their day at this separate campus. The travel time needed to travel to one campus from the other is only about five minutes, but some students take their fourth period as a study hall and use it for travel time and open-campus lunch. Some students also take a second study hall to make up for the one used as travel time and lunch.

In 2006 the Beautification Committee, a group of volunteer parents, raised $50,000 dollars from donations and proceeds from 50th anniversary blanket sales to purchase an electronic greeting sign, replacing an old stone one, as part of the school's 50th anniversary. Burnsville was one of the last to not have an electronic sign, as Lakeville, Bloomington, and Eagan already did. This group has also volunteered their time, energy, and resources to help upkeep the gardens and grounds of the school. There has been some controversy over the cost of the sign, voiced even in the school newspaper, asking if people would raise such money for books, new computers, or technology education equipment. The money for the sign, however, was raised by local businesses and private donors, so the school didn't spend money on anything.

Athletics

Burnsville High School is affiliated with the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) and is a member of the Lake Conference.

State Championships
Season	Sport	Number of Championships	Year
Fall	Soccer, Boys	4	1980, 1982, 1990, 1993
	Soccer, Girls	2	1992, 1993
	Cross Country Running, Boys	5	1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1986
	Football	5	1972, 1980, 1985, 1989, 1991
Swimming and Diving, Girls	5	1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 2002
Winter	Dance Team, Girls	9	1982, 1983, 1987, 1990, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
	Gymnastics, Girls	4	1975, 1977, 1978, 1982
	Hockey, Boys	2	1985, 1986
	Swimming and Diving, Boys	2	1985, 2007
	Basketball, Girls	2	1977, 1991, 1992
	Drumline	2	1997, 2007
Spring	Golf, Girls	3	1990, 2000, 2007
	Softball, Girls	2	2004, 2005
	Track and Field, Boys	1	1978
Total		47

Notable Alumni

• Janell Cannon -- BHS Class of 1975, Author and Illustrator, most notably of Stellaluna.
• Cedric Yarbrough -- BHS Class of 1991, Actor, most notably of T.V. shows Reno 911! and The Boondocks (TV series).
• Pradeep Venkatasetty -- BHS Class of 1977, CIO of Varel, Intl.

External links

• Burnsville High School