The History of Highcroft And What It Was Like Being the Last Graduating 5th Grade Class

Highcroft Country Day School was founded in 1958 and was originally kindergarten through 9th grade. Located in Wayzata, Highcroft was created to offer exceptional education to kids in the western suburbs of the Twin Cities. Highcroft was built in 1960, on land donated to the school, which had been part of the Highcroft estate. Highcroft was one of Blake’s two lower school campuses, and in 2023, Blake sold Highcroft and built the ELC (Early Learning Center) for pre-k to 1st.

Since Highcroft is no longer a part of the Blake School, all the students who went there had to either go to the Hopkins campus the next year, or if they were a graduating 5th grader, to the middle school.

Moving from different campuses is a big change, especially if you don’t live close to the Hopkins Campus. For me, it is at least a 25-minute drive without traffic, but when I went to Highcroft it was only a 5-minute drive. 5th graders (now 6th graders) would have moved to the Hopkins Campus anyway. Everyone who went to Highcroft and now is in 7th or 8th has experienced this as well. But, this year it was different for the 6th graders, because they were leaving a school that they went to for at most, 7 years, and they left knowing that the school wouldn’t be a part of Blake anymore.

There were a lot of cherished things there, for example, the Cuckoo Clock. Every Friday morning, the Highcroft students would go out to the big fireplace and listen to (and watch) the Cuckoo Clock. It may seem minor, but it was a tradition that some people had been doing for their whole time at Blake. The whereabouts of the Cuckoo Clock now are not clear to most 6th graders.

“I knew that I would be leaving Highcroft, but I was not expecting it to be so hard. My favorite memory from Highcroft was in Pre-K. It was when our Pre-K teacher, Mr. Gilsdorf, read to us in the big brown chair.” said Lilla Houston, in 6th grade.

Vaughn Flaherty, a 6th-grade student said, “I was happy that I could have all my friends…with me…when we went to middle school. Since I went to the Hopkins campus and Highcroft, I got to be with all my friends.”