Kindergarten Tour Materials
Next steps
Thank you for exploring Blake. We hope your visit offered new insights and heightened your interest in Blake for your child. Below are next steps in the admissions process.
n Apply to Blake
If you have not already applied for admission to Blake, we encourage you to do so. Links to our online application for the 2025–26 school year can be found on the admissions page of the Blake website (blakeschool.org/admissions). The first-round application deadline for admission next fall is January 31, 2025.
n Schedule Screening (Pre-K to grade 5) or Testing (grades 6–12) for Your Child
Once you submit an application, you can schedule screening or testing for your child. Applicants from Pre-K to grade 5 schedule an on-campus screening through Blake’s admissions portal. Applicants to grades 6 through 12 can register for the Secondary School Admissions Test at ssat.org.
n Schedule a Visit for Your Child
Once you submit an application, we will reach out to you to schedule a visit for your child. Spending a day (or part of a day for our youngest applicants) at Blake is a terrific way for students to experience classroom and social life here.
n Apply for Financial Assistance
We welcome your interest in financial assistance to afford Blake. You can find information about our needbased financial assistance program and application on the Blake website. The deadline for submitting an application for financial assistance is January 31, 2025.
Please call the Admissions Office at 952-988-3420 if you have questions.
Thank you for considering Blake. Our goal is to create a personalized, warm and enjoyable experience for every family as they discover what their child can become at Blake. We are happy to answer any questions, so feel free to contact us.
Joe Silvestri
Director of Admissions and Financial Assistance School: (952) 988-3422
Mobile: (612) 437-5259
JSilvestri@BlakeSchool.org
Tony Andrade
Associate Director of Admissions Grades 6–12 Admissions Coordinator School: (952) 988-3424
Mobile: (612) 916-2046
TAndrade@BlakeSchool.org
Lynn Loew
Assistant Director of Financial Assistance Grades 2–5 Admissions Coordinator School: (952) 988-3423
Mobile: (612) 368-5420
LLoew@BlakeSchool.org
Laura Mark
Assistant Director of Admissions for Early Childhood Education, Grades Pre-K–Grade 1 School: (952) 988-3570
Mobile: (612) 368-5420
LMark@BlakeSchool.org
Early Learning Center
Building Curiosity, Connection and Community
In August 2023, Blake opened an Early Learning Center (ELC) on its Hopkins campus, the first of its kind in the Twin Cities. Conceived specifically for learners in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and first grade, the ELC offers a child-centered educational program in a green facility designed to spark curiosity, joy and growth.
THE FOUNDATION: LOVE OF LEARNING
The ELC experience lays the foundation for the remarkable journey that is a Blake education. From the starting point of their school experience, our youngest learners are in a shared educational community that teaches the habits of mind and heart embodied in Blake’s mission, core values and commitment to pluralism.
Understanding children as inquisitive, intelligent, creative and capable, Blake’s Reggio-inspired early childhood program teaches students to investigate, inquire and make connections in the world around them. Both the ELC curriculum and design teach and inspire a love of learning.
THE BUILDING: SPACIOUS & INTIMATE
Our youngest students learn best in an environment designed specifically for them. Blake partnered with HGA, an awardwinning national architectural firm, to design a facility that connects the indoors and outdoors, incorporates the wooded area of campus and uses green building strategies. The ELC is certified by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system (LEED).
Nestled into a hillside at the top of a winding drive, the building’s three floors are elevated at half-levels: the Field Level, the Forest Level and the Treetop Level. Each grade has its own floor. Common spaces on each floor create a sense of belonging and community. From the ground up, the ELC is scaled to be both spacious and intimate with gathering places, play areas and reading nooks.
DESIGN HIGHLIGHTS
Blake’s outstanding early childhood faculty bring their deep experience, knowledge, skills and passion to ELC classrooms. The ELC offers the following features:
• Dedicated levels for PK, K and 1 to support each stage of child development
• Classrooms with easy access to the outdoors and the Blake forest
• Open and spacious common areas for gathering and dining
• Landscaping with natural play structures and adventure zones
• Learning kitchen
• Library
• Art studio
• Movement studio
• Music studio
• Strings studio
The ELC is located on Blake’s campus in Hopkins, which is home to students from pre-kindergarten to grade eight. Spreading over 55 acres of rolling hills, three distinct school settings serve students as they grow and develop from early childhood to early adolescence.
ELC students have access to the campus’s grass and turf fields, ice arena, swimming pool, and performing arts center. ELC learners have the opportunity to be mentored by older students through Blake’s fifth and eighth grade buddy programs and other inter-class activities.
SUSTAINABILITY AND CLIMATE LEADERSHIP
Blake’s outstanding early childhood faculty bring their deep The Early Learning Center is home to the state’s first fossilfuel-free non-collegiate educational building. The building runs fully on renewable energy—electricity and geothermal heating and cooling. It was constructed with local, recycled materials, and is surrounded by rain gardens and pollinatorfriendly plantings. Tapping into humans' innate affinity for nature, the ELC features large windows and skylights and easy access to the outdoors.
Blake’s early childhood educators use the building as a teaching tool to deepen students’ connection to the natural world and understand their impact on it. This focus on the environment, guided by a child-centered academic program, helps children to see themselves as capable learners, critical thinkers and problem solvers. The ELC marks a commitment to teaching about and modeling environmental responsibility for the next century of Blake students.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Laura Mark, Assistant Director of Admissions for Early Childhood Education 952-988-3570 • lmark@blakeschool.org
The Kindergarten Year
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AT BLAKE
Children at the Center
Blake’s philosophy of early childhood education is grounded in the belief that respect for the child is the single most important tenet of meaningful education. Children are at the center of the educational experience, supported by teachers and rooted in the community.
STUDENTS ARE VIEWED AS COMPLEX, POWERFUL MAKERS OF MEANING
Students not only formulate answers to questions posed by adults, but most importantly, they construct their own questions and objectives throughout their educational journey. Blake teachers guide and challenge students as they develop increasingly sophisticated hypotheses and understandings about the world. When presented with handson or imaginative experiences or materials for experimentation or play, young children easily slip into flow where they become utterly absorbed in the task at hand. These experiences are the deepest and most powerful forms of learning for young children. When encouraged to reflect, children build upon their own prior knowledge to forge new understandings. As they pursue these ideas, they build initiative, develop autonomy and gain a sense of their own competence.
A WEEK IN THE LIFE OF A BLAKE KINDERGARTENER
The kindergarten year is a time of incredible growth and development, both academically and emotionally. Blake’s kindergarten teachers work daily to understand each child’s strengths, challenges and passions. They use this knowledge to create individual student learning plans to advance each child forward in literacy, mathematical thinking, scientific inquiry and critical thinking skills.
Throughout the course of a week, kindergarten students have the opportunity to engage in all of Blake’s Lower School specialist offerings including art, music, strings, Spanish (5x per week), physical education (2x per week), engineering and programming, theater and library. Specialist classes are woven into a kindergartener’s weekly schedule, allowing each student to practice transitions and engage in creative problem solving with their peers.
No two days of kindergarten are the same, and every week is filled with learning opportunities in and out of the classroom. Below is just one example of how Blake kindergarteners spend their time.
Excerpts from a Weekly Kindergarten Newsletter
Math
This week we started a new unit exploring teen numbers. We are focusing on how teen numbers are made up of 10 and more. We used plastic dinosaurs this week to separate teen quantities into groups of 10 and more. After that we talked about how the 1 in those numbers means 10. Our place value cards really help the students to begin to understand this concept.
Social Emotional Toolbox Learning
We talked to the students about another Toolbox tool—the patience tool. The kindergartners came up with so many examples that require waiting patiently. They often get a chance to practice this tool throughout the day at school.
Reader's/Writer’s Workshop
This week we learned how to write a letter to someone. The students learned the different parts of a letter and then practiced writing to a classmate. Some of the kindergarteners have written letters to other students in the Lower School. Our classroom post office is in full swing.
The [student] postal workers process the letters and deliver them to the addressees (to the cubbies of the student[s] in the Lower School) before their shift is over.
We talked about another “real” reason to write—lists! The students got to work writing to-do lists, packing lists, birthday lists, etc. The students were excited to bring them home that afternoon to add to them (if needed) and then to cross off the items on their lists!
We read a story entitled “A List” by Arnold Lobel, which is a Frog and Toad story, to get the students ready to write their own lists. We also recently read through several books in our classroom that have word patterns in them that repeat and are also familiar to the students. We also introduced some printable books that have phrases that repeat and also have the kindergarten words in them. These emergent reader books help the students begin to not only read the pictures but read conventionally.
Buddy Time
During our fifth grade buddy time, the students worked on “Not a Box” books. This activity is related to a book we read called “Not a Box” by Antoinette Portis. The students had a lot of fun writing and illustrating their own version of this book with the buddies. We will send them home soon.
More fun
We had a fun skating party at the end of our skating unit on Wednesday. Thanks again to Mr. Fuller and Mr. Cracraft for helping the students get better at this fun sport. I also want to thank the many adults who helped tie skates. We could not have done this unit without you!
KINDERGARTEN STUDENT COHORT
Each admission season, Blake invites up to 15 bright and curious students to enroll in the kindergarten program. They will join 45 students from the Blake prekindergarten program to form three classes of 20 kindergarten students. Each kindergarten class has one lead teacher and one teaching assistant. In general, Blake enrolls students into kindergarten who turn five by September 1. Children who will turn five by September 30 will be reviewed on an exceptional basis.
KINDERGARTEN SCHOOL HOURS
Starting in fall 2025, a kindergarten student’s day will be 8:15 a.m. to 3:15 p.m., Monday through Friday.
EXTENDED DAY (AM AND PM) AND TRANSPORTATION
Complimentary morning care is available each weekday from 7:45 to 8:15 a.m. on a dropin basis. Kindergarten students are walked to their classrooms at 8:15 a.m. by Lower School teaching assistants and specialists.
The Afternoon Extended Day Program is offered each weekday from 3:15 to 6 p.m. Each afternoon includes a snack and a variety of free play and structured activities. Children may enroll in one or more days per week. The Afternoon Extended Day Program is a feebased program that requires registration.
Blake owns and operates its own bus program and offers both doortodoor service as well as central stops throughout the metro area. Busing is available in the morning and at 3:15 p.m.
TUITION AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
Anticipated tuition for kindergarten for the 202526 school year is $36,800. These costs include all school fees such as lunch, supplies and field trips. Afternoon Extended Day (3:15 – 6 p.m.) fees are between $1,193 and $5,750, depending on days attending. Needbased financial assistance is available for families who apply and qualify.
For further questions, please be in touch with Blake’s Assistant Director of Admissions for Early Childhood Education Laura Mark at 952-988-3570 or lmark@blakeschool.org.
2 020–2 1 Financial Assistance
$9.1 MILLION in financial assistance grants 26% of Blake students receive financial assistance
ALL GRADES AWARDS MADE TO
Family income of those receiving tuition assistance ranges from less than $20,000 to more than $300,000
Financial assistance awards ARE GRANTS NOT LOANS
300+ students receive grants each year
Average financial assistance award is
Total Tuition
$600,000 MORE THAN in additional financial assistance awarded to support students beyond tuition including but not limited to:
BLAKE ALUMNI AROUND THE GLOBE
► An education at Blake opens the door to an extensive Alumni network.
► Blake alumni far and near are living purposeful lives as community and global citizens.
► The five states with the most alumni include Minnesota, California, New York, Florida and Colorado.
► Blake alumni encompass all former students of Blake, Northrop, Highcroft and The Blake School, including those who left prior to graduation. Once you’ve attended Blake, we always have a place for you.
► Alumni engagement opportunities: Alumni Board
Top five alumni states in brown
Nearly 200 alumni live outside the United States. The country with the most alumni outside of the U.S is the United Kingdom, followed by Canada.
Stay up to date with Blake alumni news and events on social media www.facebook.com/blakeschoolalumni.
PROFILE 2023–2024
OVERVIEW
Founded in 1900, Blake is a coeducational, independent, nonsectarian day school serving 1,330 students on two campuses, Hopkins (Pre-K to 8) and Minneapolis (9 to 12). In small classes and through comprehensive curriculum, students from a variety of backgrounds and lived experiences find common ground in shared values. Blake provides ample opportunities for students to develop outside of the classroom. They not only become critical thinkers but also leaders, artists, athletes and citizens of the world.
GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS
22 credits in seven disciplines:
• Computer Science
• English
• Math
• Modern & Classical Languages
• Social Studies/History
• Science
• Visual, Performing Arts & Debate
Other courses include:
• 5 AP courses in Humanities
• 16 honors and AP courses in STEM
• 4 AP courses in Modern & Classical Languages
• Independent Study, by application
• Senior Seminar: Communication & Society: Senior Capstone Course
Enrollment in and advancement in honors and AP courses in math, science and social studies requires a minimum grade or departmental approval. Students cannot enroll in AP social studies courses until junior year.
Athletics
English
POST-AP COURSES
• All senior electives offered at post-AP level
Computer Science
• Advanced Topics in Computer Science & Intermediate Programming with Python (CMU)
Math *0ffered on a rotation, year-to-year
• Advanced Topics: Conjectures, Refutations & Proofs*
• Advanced Topics: Graph Theory & Network*
• Advanced Topics: Linear Algebra with Topics in Multi-variable Calculus*
• Advanced Topics: Interest Theory & Actuarial Math*
Modern & Classical Languages
• Advanced Hispanic Culture & Literature
• Advanced Topics: Chinese Culture & Literature
• Advanced Topics: Hispanic Theater & Film
• Advanced Topics: LeMonde Francophone
• Advanced Classics: Age of Augustus and Empire
• Advanced Classics: Politics & Poetry
Social Studies
• Advanced Topics: Research
UPPER SCHOOL CO-CURRICULARS
Student Leadership
80% of Upper School students participate in at least one of 32 sports on 77 different athletic teams. (Students commute from the Upper School to Blake’s athletic facilities in Hopkins.)
Visual & Performing Arts
Includes two choral ensembles, two instrumental ensembles and three annual stage productions. Students lead an average of six curated gallery shows and attend 45 debate tournaments per year.
Student Publications
Spectrum, award-winning student newspaper; Flash, literary arts magazine; yearbook.
Forum, student government; Community Judiciary Board; Student InterAction Committee (SIAC); peer counselors; Bear-to-Bear peer tutoring; Student Diversity Leadership Council; Student Interview and Recommendation Committee.
Academic Clubs
DECA, Quiz Bowl, Science Olympiad, math team, robotics, mock trial, ModelUN, debate.
Service Learning
25% of Upper School students choose to participate in Community Service Board committees and/or Service Path Recognition where they volunteer for at least 100 hours in one year.
GLOBAL LEARNING
• Academic immersion courses are led by Blake faculty who partner with local organizations. Destinations have included China, Sierra Leone, Cuba, Vietnam, Morocco, India, U.S.-Mexico border and Rwanda.
• Through Global Online Academy (GOA), a consortium of leading independent schools, students learn about real-world topics in a global community.
• Blake partners with School Year Abroad, the High Mountain Institute, the Alzar School and other organizations for off-campus study.
Affinity Groups
Student-led spaces for identitybased affirmation and support. Specific groups focus on gender, sexuality, religion, race, ethnicity, family structure and ability.
Clubs & Organizations
Approved and sponsored by the student government. Groups focus on creative writing, history, politics, languages, chess, arts, finance, e-sports, rocket science, the environment and more.
Blake does not rank students or weight
* Includes all Blake courses taken during the academic year beginning in ninth grade through junior year.
Test Takers
COVID-19: Blake shifted to remote learning for the fourth quarter of 2019–2020. Blake started 2020–2021 in a hybrid model, with half of the student body in the building each day. On Nov. 5, 2020, Blake moved to full remote learning and then resumed the hybrid model on January 19, 2021. In the 2021–22 academic year, Blake returned to full in-person teaching and learning. Students received letter grades for all courses and school years.
MISSION
Blake engages students with a dynamic, academically challenging education in a diverse and supportive community committed to pluralism and a common set of values. Students pursue an integrated program of academic, artistic and athletic activities, preparing for college, lifelong learning and purposeful lives as community and global citizens.
COMMITMENT TO PLURALISM
A vibrant learning environment springs from a diverse school community. For this reason, Blake seeks and values students, families and employees with a wide range of backgrounds, identities and life experiences. Individually and collectively, we strive for understanding across differences in an inclusive environment where everyone can belong, contribute and thrive.
CORE VALUES
Respect Love of Learning Integrity
Courage
ADMINISTRATION
Anne E. Stavney, Ph.D. Head of School
Joseph J. Ruggiero, Ph.D. Upper School Director
COLLEGE COUNSELING
Sara Kyle
Director of College Counseling skyle@blakeschool.org
Jim Mahoney
Associate Director of College Counseling jmahoney@blakeschool.org
Nora Main
Associate Director of College Counseling nmain@blakeschool.org
Wendy Johnson College Counseling Coordinator werickson@blakeschool.org
CJ Jones Eckhardt College Counseling Liaison cjeckhardt@blakeschool.org
Amanda Minoff
College Counseling Liaison aminoff@blakeschool.org
ACCREDITATION
Independent Schools Administration of the Central States (ISACS)