Choosing A Home In Dakota County Based on High School Extracurriculars
November 4, 2009
A guide for parents looking to buy a home based on which high schools have the best extracurricular programs in Dakota County Minnesota for their students.
Yesterday, I published a story about which Lake Conference schools have the highest performing sports teams if you are looking to buy a home based on your high school athlete – Best High Schools For Sports
Besides athletic teams there are a number of other competitive extracurricular activities that feature championships that are managed by the Minnesota State High School League. Many high school students spend just as much time or more than an athlete does to prepare themselves for these competitions.
While I intended to cover all 7 high schools from the Lake Conference that are in Dakota County, this list will look a lot like a focus on School District 196 since those 4 schools dominate the list.
| Extracurricular | Top High Schools |
| Marching Band | Rosemount (5 straight state titles), Eastview |
| Drumline | Eagan (many state titles) |
| Speech | Apple Valley & Eagan top 2 schools in state |
| Debate | Eastview/Apple Valley, Eagan, Rosemount |
| Dance – High Kick | Burnsville, Eastview/Apple Valley |
| Dance – Jazz | Eastview/Apple Valley |
| 1 Act Play | Eagan, Lakeville South, Eastview/Apple Valley |
(where it says Eastview/Apple Valley it’s a combined team)
Resources
- Minnesota State High School League – Has information on each extracurricular including detailed yearbooks and record books going back to the beginning of each activity
Choosing A Home In Dakota County Based on High School Sports
November 3, 2009
A guide for parents looking to buy a home based on which high schools have the best sports programs in Dakota County Minnesota for their student athletes.
While some people will think it’s ludicrous, many parents of high school athletes go to extreme means to get their student athletes into the right school boundary area in order for them to be on just the right high school team. For some that means getting into the best programs with the teams that have the best chance of winning. For others, it may be better to be at a program that is less competitive to allow for more playing time.
One thing to keep in mind, the reason that many of these programs are competitive is that their respective Athletic Associations have built up the athletes through their Kindergarten-8th grade years to get them ready to compete at the high school level.
This article examines the schools in the Lake Conference that are in Dakota County to identify which athletic programs have had the most success over the past 3 years.
| Sport | Top Schools past 3 years |
| Alpine Skiing – Boys | Lakeville North |
| Alpine Skiing – Girls | Lakeville South |
| Baseball | Lakeville North, Eastview, Burnsville, Apple Valley |
| Basketball – Boys | Lakeville North, Eastview, Burnsville |
| Basketball – Girls | Eastview, Lakeville North |
| Football | Lakeville North, Eastview, Rosemount, Lakeville South |
| Hockey – Boys | Eagan, Burnsville, Eastview, Rosemount |
| Hockey – Girls | Eagan, Eastview, Burnsville |
| Soccer – Boys | Apple Valley, Eagan, Lakeville North |
| Softball | Eagan, Burnsville, Rosemount |
| Volleyball | Eastview, Lakeville North, Burnsville |
| Wrestling | Apple Valley, Eagan, Rosemount |
Resources
- Game Face MN – The Star Tribunes high school news/scores/standing site
- Minnesota State High School League – Has information on each sport including detailed yearbooks and record books going back to the beginning of each sport’s history in MN
- Lake Conference Website – Not much in the way of scores/standings but there are upcoming schedules and prior year all-conference and honorable mention awards listed (keep in mind that all of these schools are leaving the Lake Conference next year to form the South Suburban Conference)
Northern Sun Baseball – My Other “non-real estate” blog
September 1, 2009
The Dakota County Properties website & blog are still very new but I have been an active blogger for the past year. A year ago, my son committed to play college baseball at Division 2’s University of Minnesota – Duluth. As an active internet user I set out to find information online about NCAA D2 baseball and, more specifically, the Northern Sun Conference’s baseball teams. The Northern Sun Conference is made up of 13 upper Midwest schools (8 of which are in Minnesota).
When I couldn’t find much information I decided there was an opportunity to plug myself in as a source for news and opinion so I started the Northern Sun Baseball blog on February 1, 2009 – Northern Sun Baseball. Since that time I’ve had a great time working with the school’s, coaches and fans of D2 baseball. In just a few short months I had 40,000 visitors and dozens of regular contributors.
With the new school year just kicking off we’ve gotten through the dead period in college baseball and the excitement is once again building – especially now that my son will be among the players.
If you’re in the market for real estate and want to have some fun talking baseball at any level at the same time please let me know how I can assist you.
Lake Conference Changes Coming
August 29, 2009
The primary high school athletic conference serving Dakota County schools is about to go through some big changes for the 2010-2011 season. There are currently 12 teams in the Lake Conference but the Minnesota High School League is forcing the Lake to take 4 large high schools (Wayzata, Minnetonka, Hopkins & Edina) and integrate them into current Conference. While Chaska & Chanhassen were already leaving the Conference, forcing the Lake to have 14 teams and forcing the Dakota County schools to compete with the much larger west metro schools is probably going to get them to create their own conference and blow the whole thing up.
John Millea at the Star Tribune has been following this story closely – Four Teams Shift to Lake Conference
Lake Conference officials did not want all four Classic Lake schools placed in their league and there has been speculation that the Lake would splinter if that happened. After Tuesday’s decision, that became more of a possibility.
The most likely outcome will be that the 4 District 196 schools (Eagan, Rosemount, Eastview & Apple Valley), the 2 District 194 schools (Lakeville North & Lakeville South), District 191’s Burnsville High and possibly the 2 Bloomington schools will defect to create a new conference. This would basically have the effect of booting Eden Prairie out of the current configuration to go join the other 4 new schools. The schools have until October 1st to create a new conference so we’ll know something soon.
Many homeowners buy their homes with their children’s high school sports in mind so the changes happening in Minnesota’s premier high school athletic conference do matter.
Subscribe
Social Network Links
Follow me here -
