I drove past Terry Redlin Elementary on Austin Street last week — that stretch east of Duluth where the neighborhoods open up into newer developments and the lawns still look optimistic. The building itself is named after the artist, the one whose prints of ducks and farmhouses hung in half the homes I visited growing up. There's something fitting about that — naming a school after someone who painted quiet, earnest scenes of South Dakota life.
The school serves the growing east side, pulling kids from families who moved here in the last decade or two, the ones building out near 85th and Sycamore. I've talked to parents who chose their houses specifically to land in this boundary — not because it's fancy, but because it feels manageable. Elementary schools carry that weight, don't they? You're trusting a place with your six-year-old who still ties their shoes in double knots.
What I appreciate is that it's newer construction without trying too hard. No marble lobbies or architectural statements — just functional classrooms and a gym that doesn't echo like a warehouse. The kind of place where a teacher can actually hear herself think during indoor recess.
The east side lacks some of the established character you get near McKennan Park or Cathedral — there aren't century-old trees lining every block yet, and the neighborhood still has that "we just moved the dirt" look in places. But Terry Redlin sits in the middle of families who are building that character now, one school pickup line at a time.
If you're on Austin between Minnesota and Sycamore, you'll see it — tan brick, blue accents, a playground that actually gets used. Not flashy. Just there, doing the work.
— Grace
The building itself is named after the artist, the one whose prints of ducks and farmhouses hung in half the homes I visited growing up.