Thomas Jefferson High School is one of the two high schools in Bloomington, Minnesota, USA Independent School District No. 271. It is located on at 102nd Street and France Avenue on the suburb's southwest side. About 1,600 students attend in grades 9 through 12. The mascot is a Jaguar.
Jefferson was named a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence by the US Department of Education in 2009, although the school has had a solid academic reputation within the state for some time.
In 2010, after many years in the Lake Conference, both Bloomington Jefferson and Bloomington Kennedy became founding members of the South Suburban Conference sponsored by the Minnesota State High School League. League activities include athletics, academic teams, drama, and music. The other high school, John F. Kennedy located at 98th Street and Nicollet Avenue, and Jefferson are cross town rivals.
Activities and Athletics
Bloomington Jefferson is a member of the Metro West Conference in the Minnesota State High School League. The school had been a member of the Lake Conference from its opening until it left to become as a founding member of the new South Suburban Conference in 2010. The school then left the South Suburban Conference in 2014 to become as a founding member of the new Metro West Conference.
The 2000-2001 boys hockey team is the subject of the 2003 book Blades of Glory by John Rosengren.
State Championships
Principals
- Dr. Robert H. Smith 1970-1985
- Dr. Kent Stever 1985-1996
- John Bianchi 1996-1998
- Lyle Odland 1998-2002
- Steven Hill 2002-2013
- Kevin Groebner 2013â€"2016
- Jaysen Anderson 2016â€"Present
Notable alumni
- Cole Aldrich - Center, Minnesota Timberwolves
- Thomas E. Burnett Jr. - one of the passengers aboard United Flight 93 on September 11th, 2001
- Ben Clymer - Retired NHL Left Wing
- Brian Connelly - Defenseman, Rockford IceHogs
- Mike Crowley - Retired NHL Defenseman
- Steve Edlefsen - Pitcher, San Francisco Giants
- Paul Gess - Former NHL Left Wing for the Montreal Canadiens
- Tom Gilbert - Defenseman, Montreal Canadiens
- Rina Heisel - Award Winning PBS Documentary Producer
- Caleb Herbert -Forward (ice hockey), South Carolina Stingrays
- Stephen Herbst - Former professional musician and current senator (R) Pennsylvania
- Ben Hendrickson - Former MLB Pitcher
- Christine Jax - Former Commissioner of Education for the state of Minnesota
- Lane Kiffin - Head Coach, Florida Atlantic
- Tom Kurvers - Retired NHL Defenseman, 1984 Hobey Baker Memorial Award Winner
- Lloyd Lee - former NFL Coach
- Nik Lentz - Minnesota State Champion wrestler; professional Mixed Martial Artist, currently for the UFC's Featherweight Division
- Kevin Lynch - retired NBA Forward
- Mark Parrish - retired NHL Forward
- Tom Pederson - retired NHL Defenseman
- Toby Petersen - Right Wing, Dallas Stars
- Tom Ruud - former NFL linebacker, 19th pick in 1975 NFL Draft
- Dan Trebil - retired NHL defenseman
Construction and original curriculum
Bloomington Jefferson High School was constructed to support a new curriculum offering. This curriculum used a Modular Scheduling approach to scheduling, based loosely on a lecture attendance and test attendance policy. Students were required to attend a certain number of class lectures a week, as well as test-times.
This approach called for a number of large 'lecture hall' type rooms, which could be subdivided if necessary.
Due to community outcry, the 'mod' approach was cancelled, beginning with the 1979-1980 school year, leaving a school ill-constructed for a more traditional subject-based classroom. In response, many of the large rooms were repartitioned into smaller class-rooms with thin, somewhat flexible walls. These walls did not block noise well, but created a perception of smaller classrooms, and were in use at least until the late 1990s.
Many of the teachers who came to Jefferson on its inception to be part of the new curriculum stayed on as it transitioned to a more traditional approach.
In 2011-2012 Jefferson switched from a traditional block schedule to a new 6 period schedule on Monday, Tuesday, Friday, and 3 periods on Wednesday, and Thursday. This new schedule offers students the opportunity to take early bird classes that commence before school starts, 6:50-7:41.
In the 2014-2015 school year, the school inserted five weeks of a modified block schedule called "Superblock." On Mondays and Tuesdays, students have 3 periods a day, each being two hours long. On Wednesdays and Thursdays, students still have 3 periods, but they are only an hour-and-a-half long and students are released early on these days. Friday follows the normal 6 period day. This schedule is used to accommodate state-mandated testing, such as the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs) and MAP exams.
Class sizes
- 1978 - 898
- 1990 - 432
- 1994 - 402
- 2011 - 401
- 2015 - 420
- 2016 - 360
References
External links
- Jefferson High School Website
- Bloomington Public Schools Official Website
