Red Wing High School is a liberal arts, public high school located in the Mississippi River Valley, 50 miles southeast of the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area, United States. The school is part of the Red Wing Independent School District (ISD 256) and serves as the high school for Red Wing, Minnesota and its surrounding communities.
History
The school has a history dating back to 1886, the year that Red Wing built its first public high school.
Central High School (19191995) Constructed in 1919, the historic Central High, located on East Avenue, functioned as a school. In 1995 the city of Red Wing built the new Red Wing High School on the southeast side of town.
Red Wing High School (1995present) The building opened on Sept. 5, 1995 located on of rolling hills on the southeast edge of town. From 1995 to 2010 Red Wing High School served grades 912th with 8th grade housed at Twin Bluff Middle School. Due to increased enrollment in younger grades and space needs within the district, in Fall of 2010, 8th grade was moved to the High School. The building now serves students in grades 812.
Features include flexible team learning areas, a multi-station "food court," and common staff planning areas. A full size greenhouse and one of its kind Minnesota Department of Natural Resources-licensed Aquaculture Facility play host to plant science and agricultural courses. The Hovda Auditorium seats 732 people and supports concerts and community events. The Little Theatre allows seating for 250 and hosts smaller productions.
The top load gymnasium offers three teaching stations. The weights room is available for physical education instruction and sports training. The sports complex includes a football stadium, eight tennis courts, three baseball fields, four softball fields, soccer fields, a nine-lane all-weather running track and field event areas. The district also owns an indoor ice skating facility, Prairie Island Arena.
Academics
RWHS operates on a 7-class schedule. Courses may be taking through the following areas: Agricultural Science Art Business Cooperative Education Program Family and Consumer Science Health/ Physical Education Industrial Technology Education Language Arts Mathematics Music Science Social Studies World Language Individual Credit Program (IEP Required)
Course Offerings
Each course is 18 weeks in length and earns one-half credit toward graduation, unless otherwise stated. Although most courses are a semester in length and generate a one-half credit, some courses are designed for a full year and generate a full credit.
Academic Assessment
The Basic Skills Tests (BST) have been replaced by the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCA-IIs) in a continued effort to develop a more rigorous K-12 education system. The MCA-IIs were created to help schools and districts measure student progress in mastering the state's new reading, writing and mathematics standards.
Students' performance on these statewide assessments can be used as one of multiple criteria to determine grade promotion or retention. To graduate, students will have to pass the MCA-II writing test given in grade nine, the MCA-II reading test given in grade ten and the MCA-II math test given in grade eleven. All public schools and charter schools must administer the tests. Students must pass these required state exams, as well as successfully complete a required number of course credits and any local graduation requirements to graduate from a Minnesota public high school.
Assessment Results
2010 Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment Series II Scores
63% of students meet or exceed state standards for Science – 12% higher than the state average 81% of students meet or exceed state standards for Reading – 6% higher than the state average 39% of students meet or exceed state standards for Math
College Preparation
RWHS offers a variety of Advanced Placement (AP), College in the Schools (CIS), liberal arts and Career and Technical Education programs.
College in the Schools
College in the Schools is a program run by the University of Minnesota that allows high school students to attain college credit while staying in their high school. Columbia University found that students who took dual enrollment courses in high school were more likely to graduate from high school and enroll in college, as well as three years after high school graduation, students who had participated in dual enrollment courses in high school had earned higher college GPAs and more postsecondary credits than their peers.