St. Louis Park is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and a first ring-suburb immediately west of Minneapolis. Its neighboring cities include Edina, Golden Valley, Minnetonka, Plymouth, Hopkins, and Minneapolis. It is the birthplace and childhood home of movie directors Joel and Ethan Coen, activist Rev. Tomkin Coleman, singer/songwriter Peter Himmelman, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, politician/author/satirist Al Franken, singer/songwriter/guitarist of the band humanboy Geoffrey Fischbein, songwriter Dan Israel, guitarist Sharon Isbin, writer Pete Hautman, and football coach Marc Trestman. Baseball announcer Halsey Hall lived there. Its population was 44,126 at the 2000 census.

Public schools

The St. Louis Park School District, Independent School District 283, is home to seven public schools serving about 4,200 students in grades K–12 students. St. Louis Park is the only school district in Minnesota in which every public school has been recognized as a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence by the U.S. Department of Education.

Forty years ago, the proportion of school-age children in St. Louis Park was much higher than it is now, although the population has not changed much. Due to declining enrollment over the years, there have been several changes to schools in the district:

• Ethel Baston Elementary School was closed; its building is now occupied by Groves Academy, a private school.
• Fern Hill Elementary School was closed; its building is now occupied by Torah Academy of Minneapolis, a private school
• Park Knoll Elementary School was demolished to expand the Knollwood Mall.
• Brookside Elementary School, Lenox Elementary School, Eliot Elementary School, and Central Junior High School were closed as public school buildings: Brookside was demolished in 2006 and condominiums built; Lenox Community Center has the SLP Senior Program and preschool on the main floor, with non-profits on the second; Eliot has public and private non-district school renters; Central Community Center houses the Spanish Immersion School and other ISD 232 programs.
• Peter Hobart Elementary School and Aquila Elementary School became Peter Hobart Primary Center and Aquila Primary center, serving only grades K through 3, and Susan Lindgren Elementary School and Cedar Manor Elementary School became intermediate schools serving only grades 4 through 6.
• In 1970, St. Louis Park Senior High School served only grades 10 through 12 and had about 2500 pupils; now it serves grades 9 through 12 and serves about 1350 pupils.