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Join Minnesota's
School of Environmental Studies

       Where Your Passion Meets the Planet

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Explore Your Future

Do you have a passion for the environment and a drive to make a difference? Explore how Minnesota's High School for Environmental Studies can transform your education. With immersive, hands-on learning, we go beyond any traditional classroom. Learn more about how you can become an eco-leader. Share your contact for more info!!

students working with electricity indoor classroom

Become an Eco-Leader

Ready to take the next step? Get enrolled to start your journey toward becoming an Eco-Leader at Minnesota's School of Environmental Studies. You'll enjoy high school classes like environmental justice in action, zoo exploration, aquariums, college-level animal science, emergency medical services, model U.N. and more!

 

APPLY Now

Prospective Students and Families Events

Our staff and students will visit District 196 high schools and host tours in December. Both provide an opportunity for students to learn more about our unique learning opportunities. Dates and Details for these events will be posted in our news in November. 

 

For students interested in attending for the 2026-2027 school year, our application is open. The priority application deadline is December 19, 2025. We will conduct a lottery to fill the 200 spots for incoming juniors (and any open spots for interested incoming seniors) during the first week of January. Families will be notified if they secured a spot or have been placed on a waitlist by January 8, 2026. Students are welcome to apply after that date and will be placed in a class or on a waitlist, as space allows.

Top Reasons to Choose
Minnesota's School of Environmental Studies

group of students in college sweatshirts

High academic rigor.

Challenge yourself. Take advantage of opportunities to earn college credit through 12 Advanced Placement and College in Schools courses.

student at pottery wheel

Environmental focus.

Explore our 12-acre forested campus on the grounds of the MN Zoo. Learn sustainability and renewable energy in our LEED Platinum Certified school.

student in front of an aquarium

Find your purpose.

Explore and solve complex problems through real-world connections and high-level questioning as environmental science, social studies, and language arts intersect.

student presenting pond study data to a community member

Be known.

Our learning pods and house cohorts connect teachers and students in smaller learning communities over two years. 

two students sitting in the woods

Choose your adventure. 

Field study opportunities include the Boundary Waters, scuba diving, and travel to Costa Rica, Honduras, Scotland, and more.

student and teacher working on a complex problem

Dive deep.

Immerse yourself in one subject for seven school days at the end of each trimester. Intensive Theme options include animal behavior, Model UN, film study, theatre, marine biology, and more.

student presenting environmental research findings to a community member

Student clubs

Join our Green Team, Student Council, FFA, Yearbook, Black & Latinx Student Unions, hiking club, art club, and more.

What is Minnesota's School of Environmental Studies?

student caring for aquarium

The School of Environmental Studies (SES) is a magnet high school for juniors and seniors. Established in 1995 as a unique partnership between Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan Public Schools, the City of Apple Valley, and the State of Minnesota (Minnesota Zoo), we offer small, more effective learning communities that provide authentic experiences focused on the environment.

Our unique high school campus is located on the Minnesota Zoo grounds and adjacent to Lebanon Hills Regional Park, where wooded trails and diverse wildlife abound. We’re eco-leaders.

  • World’s first student-led LEED Gold Certification (2019), recertified Platinum (2022)
  • Student-led solar energy grant (2021); solar panels provide 30% of our power
  • One of few U.S. high schools with consultative status to the United Nations

View a Profile of SES

Describing the Student Experience

There is something unique about juniors and seniors entering a new school—one aligned with their interests. “When I first came here, it felt like home,” says Cory, a School of Environmental Studies senior. “It makes you feel like you were meant to be here.”

Sophia, a senior at the School of Environmental Studies in Apple Valley, was always that little kid who pointed up in the air and commented about the environment. “It was huge to know that there's an entire school dedicated to learning about it,” she shares. “They challenge you to think even broader than you could have ever imagined.” Sofia decided to join the School of Environmental Studies for it is a smaller setting and because the teachers know her (they get her!). She was searching to “really make a difference and be someone.” She wants to be an eco-leader!

“It was the middle of winter when I walked into this school. I saw the aquaponics wall and a student in the hall with a parrot on his shoulder, and I was hooked!” Nik “wanted to know more about this school and what we can do here.”