In 2015, Newsweek ranked the school 150th on its "List of the 500 Top High Schools in America".[5]U.S. News & World Report ranked the school 432nd among 21,000 schools nationally and 6th in Minnesota in 2021.[6]
History
The Wayzata High School campus
The first school in the Wayzata area was established around 1855. Classes were taught in homes until a one-room school was built near what is now the second green of the Wayzata Country Club. This school burned down (for unknown reasons) and a new school was constructed on what is now Wayzata's main street near downtown Wayzata.[7]
What are now the West and Central middle schools were each once the high school building. The West Middle School building served as the high school from 1940 to 1960. Central Middle School's campus was home to the high school from 1960 to 1997. The current Wayzata High School campus was completed in 1997 and classes began in the 1997–98 school year.[7]
On February 25, 2014, voters approved a referendum for a $109 million bond request to expand the high school and improve security and technology. Part of the provisions include the purchasing of adjacent land belonging to the Elm Creek Golf Course and the building of a new wing. Construction took place from 2014 to 2017.[8]
Academics
As of the 2015–16 school year, Wayzata High School offers 24 Advanced Placement classes and one Advanced Placement Pilot course (AP Accounting).[9]
The school also hosts the Minnesota PSEO program, allowing students in 11th and 12th grades to receive college credit.[10]
Wayzata High School has consistently exceeded the state and national average scores on the ACT.[11]
In 2014, the school began a district-wide technology program that issued each student a district-owned iPad.[12]
In the 2019 National Science Bowl Competition, Wayzata High School won the Final Championship against Dulles High School. The school also participated in the competition in 2011, 2014, 2018, and 2020.
Wayzata's quiz bowl team won both the NAQT Minnesota State Championship and Minnesota High School Quiz Bowl League in 2012, 2013, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. It has performed well at the national level, placing T-8 in the High School National Championship Tournament in 2018 and 2021.[17]
Wayzata participates in the Minnesota State High School Mathematics League, holding the season champion title for 11 years (2007–2017) and producing many state individual champions. Several Wayzata students travel to the American Regions Mathematics League held in University of Iowa and Harvard-MIT Mathematics Tournament as members of the Minnesota All-State Mathematics Team.
The 9th grade Knowledge Master Open team won the national spring KMO in the 9th grade division in 2009.[18] The trivia team has been continued by two Questions Unlimited 3-2-1 teams, each composed of students in grades 9, 10, 11, and 12.
Wayzata's Volunteer Club serves as one of the premier volunteering clubs in the state, focusing on community development, education, and fostering relationships. Notable partnerships include elementary school carnival support, Salvation Army donations, and removal of invasive Buckthorn species.
