Burnsville High School

Burnsville High School (BHS) is a four-year public high school in Burnsville, Minnesota, United States. Burnsville is a southern suburb about 15 miles south of Minneapolis. The school is part of Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District 191, which covers most of Burnsville, as well as parts of the surrounding cities Savage and Eagan, and small parts of Shakopee and Apple Valley. Most of the incoming freshmen come from Eagle Ridge and Nicollet Middle Schools. The school mascot is Sparky, a humanoid with a fireball for a head. Burnsville High School athletics are a part of the South Suburban Conference. History Burnsville High School originally opened in 1956 as a K-12 school with an enrollment of about 400 students. In 1966, upon completion of the newly constructed school, students in grades seven through nine started attending Metcalf Junior High, later renamed Metcalf Middle School, which has since closed. Today, students attending Burnsville's newer Eagle Ridge and Nicollet Middle Schools go on to Burnsville Senior High School for grades 9-12. On April 25, 1994, the largest high school arson in the United States occurred, which resulted in over $15 million in damages. The same arsonist also started fires at Edina High School and Minnetonka High School. During the restoration, high school students studied at nearby Nicollet Junior High and Sky Oaks Elementary Schools. Around the time of the fire, the school's mascot was changed from the Braves to the Blaze to avoid stigmatizing and stereotyping Native Americans. Prior to the Braves, the first mascot of Burnsville High School was the Bulldogs. In 1997, District 191 bought the Diamondhead Mall and converted the top level into the Senior Campus to handle increasing enrollment. A year later, it was opened for use. At the end of the 2015–16 school year, the Burnsville High School Senior Campus closed permanently, and is now used for school district offices.