Robbinsdale Cooper Senior High School

Robbinsdale Cooper High School is a public secondary school located in New Hope, Minnesota, a northwest suburb of Minneapolis. Cooper, as it is informally referred to, became an IB World School in July 1998, and now offers the IB Middle Years (MYP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) programs along with a wide variety of courses and curricula suited to the needs of every student. RCHS has a large fine arts and music program, as well as multiple extra-curricular activities including a broad selection of athletics. RCHS is home to about 1600 students. Cooper students and Alumni are referred to as Hawks, after the school's mascot.School historyE. J. Cooper Senior High School, as it was originally known, was built in 1964 to accommodate increasing enrollment in the Robbinsdale Area School District (Independent School District 281). Once called the most modern high school in the area, Cooper was advanced in both structure and audiovisual technology. It was named for district superintendent Edwin J. ("E.J.") Cooper, and for years E.J. was a popular guest at school gatherings. The school's first principal was Lyndon Ulrich. In its first year, Cooper held classes for kindergarten as well as grades 10 through 12. It then held grades 10 through 12 for many years before adding the 9th grade in the 1990s.In 1982, declining enrollment in the district forced the closure of one of the district's 3 high schools. Robbinsdale High School was chosen for closure after contentious debate. In an effort to placate Robbinsdale residents, the two remaining high schools within the district, Cooper and Armstrong, were renamed Robbinsdale Cooper and Robbinsdale Armstrong.