It is named after Saint
Bénilde Romançon and
Saint Margaret of Scotland. Benilde-St. Margaret's was originally a secondary school formed by a merger in 1974 between St. Margaret's Academy, a Catholic secondary school for girls in
Minneapolis, and Benilde High School, a Catholic secondary school for boys in
St. Louis Park. Its present building was originally that of Benilde High School.
St. Margaret's Academy St. Margaret's was founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet in 1907 as St. Margaret's Academy. The campus for this all-girls school was located near the
Basilica of St. Mary in downtown Minneapolis and included two mansions and a carriage house that had been built in the 1880s. By 1959 the old school had become inadequate in size – for every 100 girls accepted, about 200 were turned away. The Sisters of St. Joseph, who had anticipated such a problem, had purchased twenty-eight acres, and by 1960 a new school was built on Upton Avenue, near the
Eloise Butler Wildflower Gardens and Wirth Park.
Benilde High School The Brothers of the Christian Schools (informally known as the Christian Brothers), under the direction of Brother Mark Sullivan, built a boys' school in the
Minneapolis suburb of
St. Louis Park in 1956 because
De La Salle (the first all-boys Catholic high school in the west metro) was full.
Merger Both schools operated independently until the 1970s, at which time enrollment began to decline and costs began to escalate. In 1974, the St. Margaret's facility was sold to the Minneapolis school system, and the merged Benilde-St. Margaret's School opened its door at the former Benilde High School site. One hundred ninety students graduated in its first class. The school has undergone two major additions since the merger; a new gym in 1986, along with a new chapel, theatre, arts center, and classroom wing in 2001. The mascot is a Knight, named Victor E Knight who attends school events and leads students in singing the school rouser and cheering on student athletes. == Academics ==