EP Schools puts new effort into connecting with alumni

Last year, Eden Prairie Schools celebrated its 100th anniversary. In that time, several hundred students have passed through the schools and graduated from the district. What there hasn’t been until now is a concerted effort to focus on those alumni.

“The district has always attempted to welcome alumni back into our buildings in support of students in a variety of capacities,” said Molly Malone, Eden Prairie Schools’ director of community engagement and alumni relations.

That involvement has come through internship and mentorship programs, involvement with the athletics department, and volunteering, among other things. “It just hasn’t been strategically coordinated or as comprehensive as we would like it to be,” Malone said. 

The initiative, with the tagline “Once an Eagle, always an Eagle” in reference to the Eden Prairie Schools mascot, currently includes the building of a website featuring four forms: one to gather alumni contact information; one to nominate an alumnus to be spotlighted in district communications; one for submitting life or career milestones for alumni or retired staff members; and one to submit the name of an “Eagle-owned” business.

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Much of this work has been led by Hamdi Abdi, who began her role as Eden Prairie Schools’ community development specialist in December.

Currently, Abdi said, the school district does not have a database of alumni information. Due to data privacy concerns, Malone explained, “As soon as someone graduates from our system or leaves the district, they no longer maintain their Eden Prairie Schools email address, and that was the only personal contact information we had for students.”

While there is some record of parent contact information for previous students, she said, “If they have moved or left, we really don’t have a way, other than Googling folks, of tracking them down, so that’s a really key piece to this work: getting the word out that we’re hoping to connect with as many alumni as possible.” 

Business listings, reunion toolkit, and other plans

As for the “Eagle-owned businesses,” Abdi explained that the eventual goal is to create a directory of such business listings, which is open to alumni, staff and families of Eden Prairie students. “So, if you’re a parent, you own a business, and your kids are going through the Eden Prairie School District,” she explained.

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The intent, she said, is to show the broad sectors that Eden Prairie alumni enter. The eventual Eagle-owned business listing, which Malone clarified would be a listing only, rather than an endorsement, would be open to the public.

Spotlight stories, Malone and Abdi said, could appear in various formats, including Facebook posts, the weekly Parent Post email newsletter, potential future newsletters for specific alumni subgroups, or as articles in Inspire, the district’s annual magazine launched in 2024.

“It has those amazing stories of the great things that alumni have been doing so far,” Abdi said. Milestone submissions could include things like marriages, deaths, or promotions. 

Creating communications for specific subgroups of alumni by career or interest, possible networking or professional development opportunities, or tailoring events for alumni are all things that might come in a future phase of the alumni initiative, according to Abdi and Malone.

They’re also currently developing a reunion toolkit. “We want to be as helpful as we can with the planning process,” Malone said, including using gathered contact information to share with people when their reunion is coming up.

Malone noted that the prohibition against serving alcohol on school premises could act as a barrier to the school district actually hosting reunions. However, she said, “If there are classes that want to come in and utilize our spaces, or even as part of their reunion, we would have a more hands-on role if that was part of the plans and hopes of a particular class.” 

For the Class of 1974, which celebrated its 50th reunion in December 2024 at the Chanhassen American Legion, Malone said the schools provided such items as branded tablecloths and a pop-up for a selfie station.

“So even if we aren’t able to host them on-site, or if they prefer to host elsewhere, we still want to help them feel branded and proud to be celebrating their time at Eden Prairie Schools,” Malone said.

She added that the team is also working to create alumni-themed merchandise.

Abdi said, “Because it’s a new program, we’re also interested in hearing what the community has to say and if they have any great ideas.”

Connection to current students

Abdi said the alumni initiative has been publicized through social media shares and making physical items, like flyers and business cards, available at locations such as the Eden Prairie Community Center and Eden Prairie Library.

Over the winter holiday season, Abdi said, “We went to businesses that we assume most Eden Prairie residents are visiting.”

Based on these shares and existing relationships, about 200 people have signed up for the alumni initiative so far.

Both the amount and content of communication from the alumni initiative will be tailored to individual preferences, Abdi said, whether “they just want their class reunion, or if they want to stay looped in on what’s happening in the district because they want to be involved.” 

She also tied the initiative’s efforts back to current students, commenting, “When we’re strengthening our relationship with those alumni and giving the alumni the opportunity to give back to the community, whether it’s if they’re good speakers, or if they’re volunteering, or helping with the mentorship and internships, it also allows the students to kind of be inspired because they get motivation from someone who walked the same halls as them, who was in the same class and graduated from the same schools, and then also allows them to envision their future.” 

The team has also discussed extending an invitation to become part of the alumni initiative to the Class of 2025 toward the end of the school year. “That would still be an opt-in process, and an opportunity, not a requirement,” Malone said. 

Malone herself is an Eden Prairie Class of 2003 alumna, while Abdi formerly worked at Central Middle School (CMS) in the district and has relatives who are both school employees and alumni. While working at CMS, Abdi said she heard reminiscences from both parents and staff members who were Eden Prairie alumni, “so I got to see how much of that EP pride exists.” Recently, she said, she’s been excited to hear success stories from Eden Prairie alumni. “There’s some real talent that was raised at EP.” 

In addition to visiting the alumni relations website linked earlier in this article, those interested can email alumni@edenpr.org or call 952-975-6955.