Blake, originally an all-boys school, was established by a group of local businessmen in 1907 to prepare students for top colleges in the Northeast.

Three years later, Charles C. Bovey, a local businessman, wanted to reform Blake, and put it on the same plane as Eastern preparatory schools.

[2] With help from William Blake, new Board of Trustees Chairman Charles Bovey asked sixteen other local business leaders to contribute $2,500 each towards the school's first capital drive.

In 1911, these original guarantors hired Charles B. Newton, a Princeton and Harvard alumnus, to replace William Blake as headmaster.

[2] In 1900, Zulema A. Ruble, a Smith College alumna,[3] and Carrie Bartlett established Graham Hall, a private school for girls, in Minneapolis.

In addition to retaining many of the original sites and all original buildings of Blake predecessor institutions, the school also carries on other traditions, such as:[2] Since 2006, all students, faculty, staff, and community volunteers come together annually at the Hopkins campus to celebrate "Convocation Day" and participate in the service-based "Legacy Day".

On Legacy Day, students participate in service-based activities such as packing food, building birdhouses, and making tie blankets for local animal shelters.

[8] Blake has received numerous accolades in recent years, including: In 2011, Blake won the Minnesota Middle School Science Bowl, and was a competing school in the U.S. Department of Energy's National Science Bowl,[14] winning the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Car Race portion.