Sorteberg Elementary School held its school closing celebration event on Saturday, May 1, 2010. Listed in this photo album are photos taken at the event. Click here to read more school memories in the A-H Newsroom.
History
In early 1959, the pupulation in the Anoka-Hennepin area continued to increase and with it came exploseive rises in school enrollment that showed no signs of slowing down.
In April of that year, a special election was held to vote on the authorization of nearly $2 million in bonds to build additions on to several schools and a 26-classroom elementary school in the Thompson Park area of Coon Rapids. The bond issue was approved by a vote of 2,012 to 881 and construction on Northdale Elementary School (the school's original name) began. The school was build on a 15-acre site donated by Orrin Thompson at a cost of $726,353. It opened in September 1960 with Pauline Chamberlain as principal.
In 1976, Northdale Junior High School (now Northdale Middle School) was built down the road and Northdale Elementary was renamed Sorteberg Elementary School, after Leland Sorteberg.
Sorteberg previously owned the land on which the school was built and served as a longtime Anoka-Hennepin School Board member. He also served on the survey committee, along with L.O. Jacob (whom L.O. Jacob Elementary was named after), which recommended the consolidation of small school districts into what is now the Anoka-Hennepin School District. The committee was elected in 1947 and presented its final report in 1951.
Moving Forward
Due to school closings, attendance boundaries in much of Coon Rapids will change beginning with the 2010-11 school year. Sorteberg students will attend Eisenhower and Sand Creek schools. It has not yet been determined how the building will be reused.
