Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2023

In 1847, in Eagle Creek (now part of Shakopee), the Eagle Creek Pond Mission School was the first school in the area. For six years, starting in 1847, “…the Indians had gathered, in varying numbers, each Sabbath, to learn the white man’s religion, and the little children had gathered each day for religious instruction.” This was the first school in the area, according to the Scott County Argus, March 17, 1905.

Rev. Samuel W. Pond and Cordelia Eggleston Pond, who moved to Tínṫa Otuŋwe, which Samuel called Prairieville, taught the Dakota children in the Dakota language at the mission school. One of the teachers was Jane Lamont Titus (1827-1899). Jane’s mother, Haŋyetu Kihnaye Wiŋ (Hush the Night) was Dakota. Jane’s grandparents were Maḣpiya Wic̣aṡṭa and Caŋ Paduta Wiŋ of the Bde Maka Ska band who lived on the southern shore in Minneapolis. Maḣpiya Wic̣aṡṭa was also known as Cloudman, and Caŋ Paduta Wiŋ was known as Red Cherry Woman. Jane’s father, Daniel Lamont, died in 1837, and her mother asked Samuel Pond to take Jane and raise her with the Pond family.

The first public school was opened in Sha K’ Pay, Minnesota Territory in the fall of 1854. Miss Mary Jane Turner was the teacher. No location was given, according to the History of the Minnesota Valley including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota by Rev. Edward D. Neill and The Shakopee Story by Julius A. Coller II.

District 1 was organized in 1854. The first school was taught in 1855 by John H. Brown. It was on the second story of the old post office building. District 2 opened in the fall of 1854, probably at the same time as the first public school by Miss Mary Jane Turner. The school was taught at Mr. Stemmer’s house by Dr. Lord’s wife.

St. Gertrude’s Convent and Academy by the Sisters of St. Benedict was incorporated on May 4, 1866, according to History of the Minnesota Valley including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota by Rev. Edward D. Neill. The sisters erected a large two and a half-story limestone building at the corner of Fourth and Atwood Street, south of St. Mark’s Church, according to The Shakopee Story by Julius A. Coller II.

The first commencement exercises of St. Gertrude’s Convent and Academy took place on June 20, 1871. On September 4, 1871, the academy had an enrollment of 46 young ladies, according to Coller. The school continued until 1880, when Father Alois Plut, pastor of St. Mark’s and intensely German, refused to re-employ the Benedictine sisters as teachers because he contended that they were unable to teach German properly, according to The Shakopee Story.

In 1872, another school, the Minnesota Valley Academy, was opened on September 5, 1872. Episcopal Rev. William R. Powell was rector, teacher of Latin, mental and moral philosophy, and rhetoric. Ella L. Smith taught mathematics, history, and natural science, and Hattie Smith taught music. The Minnesota Valley Academy closed its doors, never to reopened, in the spring of 1875.

The Scott County Argus noted that Shakopee needed a high school. They mentioned that girls could provide “higher education and refinements” at St. Gertrude’s Academy, but the boys were not so fortunate, according to The Shakopee Story.

In the 1870s, three public schools served Shakopee residents: District 1 was a stone building that burned down in 1880; District 2 was a white building that became the residence of Herman Duede; the District 41 schoolhouse was on Fourth Street, served the district until 1918, and was destroyed in 1935 after being condemned as a hazard to life and limb.

Thirty-five boys and twenty-two girls were enrolled. At the end of the spring term, a public examination was conducted by their teacher, C.W. Smith, and the superintendent, Mr. Lancaster, along with the trustees of the school. The examination, according to the Shakopee Argus, on August 11, 1870, “reflected great credit on both teachers and the pupils.” C.W. Smith must have been a statistician at heart. According to Julius A. Coller II, “At the end of the last page of the record for the term is this notation: ‘Total loss by tardiness 5,992 minutes-99.86 hours-18.15 days. Total days attendance 15,372.’”

In July 1881, Shakopee consolidated school districts One and Two, and built the Union School. It was located one block south of old District One, and west of St. Mary’s Church. It was located between Lewis and Holmes streets and Fifth and Sixth avenues in Shakopee. It was an elegant building. They used desks instead of the more typical benches of the time. Union School cost $10,000 to build.

The building was opened for classes on January 10, 1882. Professor Giles was the principal, Fannie Barnes was head of the grammar department, and Maybelle Patterson and Mary O’Brien taught the primary department.

According to the Scott County Argus, May 23, 1898, “Earnest, intelligent work on the part of those who have had the destinies of the Union School in hand in the past few years had seen the gradual advancement of those schools in efficiency, and the growth from a graded school to a State High school well-equipped and taking good rank among the schools of the state in the matter of examinations.”

On August 19, 1898, the Shakopee High School was admitted to the State High School Board and thus became a high school in fact and not in name only, according to the Scott County Argus and The Shakopee Story, p. 184. On June 7, 1898, at the Lander Opera House in downtown Shakopee, Ida Dorothea Busse and Anna Abell Pope were the first graduates of Union School. According to the Scott County Argus on June 19, 1898, “The first annual commencement of the Shakopee High School took place at Lander Opera House last Tuesday evening. In honor of the graduating of the class of two, Misses Anna Abell Pope and Ida Dorothy Busse, and the varied and interesting program rendered was listened to with wrapt attention by an audience which tested the capacity of the big hall.”

During the ceremony, Ida spoke on “Our Government and its Relation to the Public School System,” and her thoughts were masterly, her style of delivery dignified, yet winsome, and “she acquired herself in a manner that made her large circle of friends very proud of her. A round of hearty applause was repeated when the ushers carried up to her a basket of beautiful cut flowers and a bunch of roses.”

Ida Dorothea Busse, who was born on October 1, 1878, in Shakopee City, the youngest child of Christian E. Busse and Susanna Schnell Shell Busse, died on February 2, 1963 in Minneapolis.

Bibliography

Coller, Julius A. II. The Shakopee Story. Shakopee, MN: Shakopee Heritage Society, 2009.

Neill, Edward D. History of the Minnesota Valley including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota. Minneapolis: North Star Publishing, 1882.

Scott County Argus, 23 May 1898.

Scott County Argus, 19 June 1898.

Scott County Argus, 17 March 1905.

Shakopee Argus, 11 Aug. 1870.