Wayzata High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school in Plymouth, Minnesota, United States, a suburb of Minneapolis. The high school, operated by Wayzata Public Schools, has 3,781 students in grades 9 to 12 as of 2026, making it Minnesota's largest secondary school by total enrollment. It is also Minnesota's largest secondary school by size, with an interior of 658,000 square feet (61,100 m2). The district boundaries include all of Medicine Lake and parts of Corcoran, Maple Grove, Medina, Minnetonka, Orono, Plymouth, and Wayzata. The school finished an expansion project in 2017 with the new capacity of 3,900. It is part of the Lake Conference.
In 2015, Newsweek ranked the school 150th on its "List of the 500 Top High Schools in America". U.S. News & World Report ranked the school 432nd among 21,000 schools nationally and 6th in Minnesota in 2021.
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History
The first school in the Wayzata area was established around 1855. Classes were taught in homes until a one-room school was built near what is now the second green of the Wayzata Country Club. This school burned down (for unknown reasons) and a new school was constructed on what is now Wayzata's main street near downtown Wayzata.
What are now the West and Central middle schools were each once the high school building. The West Middle School building served as the high school from 1940 to 1960. Central Middle School's campus was home to the high school from 1960 to 1997. The current Wayzata High School campus was completed in 1997 and classes began in the 1997–98 school year.
On February 25, 2014, voters approved a referendum for a $109 million bond request to expand the high school and improve security and technology. Part of the provisions include the purchasing of adjacent land belonging to the Elm Creek Golf Course and the building of a new wing. Construction took place from 2014 to 2017.
Demographics
Wayzata High School has the largest enrollment of any Minnesota high school. As of 2026, the school has a student population of 3,781 that is 0.2% Native American, 4.9% Hispanic, 5.3% multiracial, 9% black, 24% Asian, and 56.5% white.
Academics
As of the 2015–16 school year, Wayzata High School offers 24 Advanced Placement classes and one Advanced Placement Pilot course (AP Accounting). The school also hosts the Minnesota PSEO program, allowing students in 11th and 12th grades to receive college credit. In 2014, the school began a district-wide technology program that issued each student a district-owned iPad.
Wayzata High School has consistently exceeded the state and national average scores on the ACT.
Extracurricular activities
Athletics
Wayzata is part of the Lake Conference and in the Minnesota State High School League. Wayzata was in the Classic Lake Conference before the 2010–11 school year. The school sponsors the following sports teams:
Girls' cross country won the Nike NXN National Cross Country Championship in 2013 and 2025.
Clubs and activities
In the 2019 National Science Bowl Competition, Wayzata High School won the Final Championship against Dulles High School.
Wayzata's quiz bowl team won both the NAQT Minnesota State Championship and Minnesota High School Quiz Bowl League in 2012, 2013, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. It placed at T-8 in the High School National Championship Tournament in 2018 and 2021.
Wayzata participates in the Minnesota State High School Mathematics League, holding the season champion title for 11 years (2007–2017) and producing many state individual champions. Several Wayzata students travel to the American Regions Mathematics League held in University of Iowa and Harvard-MIT Mathematics Tournament as members of the Minnesota All-State Mathematics Team.
The 9th grade Knowledge Master Open team won the national spring KMO in the 9th grade division in 2009.
Notable alumni
Charles Nolte (1941), Broadway and film actor
Dick Beardsley (1975), marathon runner
David Gaither (1975), former Minnesota state senator and Governor Tim Pawlenty's Chief of Staff
Steve Wright (1977), NFL player, contestant on Survivor: Redemption Island
Amy Klobuchar (1978), U.S. senator representing Minnesota
Kimberly Elise (1985), actress
Betsy Hodges (1987), former mayor of Minneapolis
Tim Herron (1989), professional golfer
Mike Muller (1991), NHL player
David Bromstad (1992), interior designer and HGTV television show host
Ben Hamilton (1996), NFL player
Kirsten Gronfield (1996), actress
Benjamin Salisbury (1998), actor
Marion Barber III (2001), NFL player
Shawn Daivari (2002), professional wrestler
Andrew Peterson (2003), former defender for the Columbus Crew
Dominique Barber (2004), NFL player
Ryan Saunders (2004), former head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves, current assistant coach of the Memphis Grizzlies
Notable faculty
Terry Steinbach (1980), former head baseball coach
David Plummer (2013-2016) and (2024–present), head boys swim and dive coach