School on Wheels: How the Eagle Express Drives the Eden Prairie Schools Mission  

Imagine an ideal elementary school classroom. It’s full of books, has top-notch technical abilities and even comes with an accessible outdoor space. Learning and fun are united there, and students work on projects from baking soda bottle rockets to tie-dye t-shirts. Now, imagine that classroom on wheels, traveling to visit students wherever they are. You’re picturing the Eden Prairie Schools Eagle Express.

Bright red and covered in black and white student photos, the Eagle Express is an innovative mobile classroom and community outreach bus equipped with dozens of features that provide students a chance to engage with the types of hands-on opportunities that Eden Prairie Schools offers. It’s a unique tool that (literally) drives Eden Prairie Schools’ mission to inspire each student every day. Whether visitors to the Eagle Express are two years old or 80 years old, “they’re all the same — they walk in, their eyes get all big, and they say, ‘This is incredible,’” said Youth Enrichment Supervisor Ben Lee. Completed in 2023 with the help of pandemic-related ESSER funding, the Eagle Express travels around Eden Prairie offering free enrichment programming at community events, schools and housing complexes during the summer. The custom bus is equipped with multiple TV screens, a bench and table with height adjustability, several whiteboards, extensive (and always fully stocked) bookshelves, awnings on either side of the bus, a stereo system to project music outdoors, a sink, a full refrigerator, Wi-Fi and so much more. And everything it offers is free for students.

“The primary thing we want for anybody who interacts with the Eagle Express is to [have a] barrier-free experience of everything that we offer throughout our district as a whole,” Lee explained. Last year, Lee managed the Eagle Express’ summer schedule — programming called EPIC On-the-Go — during which members of the Community Education team took the bus to visit four Eden Prairie housing complexes over seven weeks in the summer, Monday through Thursday. More than 450 people visited the Eagle Express during that time, taking part in activities from ice cream making to author visits. During those visits, five children’s book authors met the bus to read their books and answer questions from students. “The emphasis is providing every student that comes through with an opportunity,” said Lee, “and I think the Eagle Express has been able to do that.”

Initially, the Eagle Express was created to fill identified gaps in access to programming during the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal was to deliver Community Education programming while limiting exposure to the virus, which the bus could do by utilizing its outdoor capabilities. It was also designed to reduce financial, technological and transportation barriers by bringing free programming straight to where it was needed. At the time, the district had a school bus that was scheduled to rotate out of its fleet. That bus was decked out, with the help of COVID relief funding, to become the Eagle Express.

“Being able to provide access to what we provide day-to-day in our schools, out anywhere in the community, on any day, at any given time, has really helped to connect the community with each other,” Lee explained. Students who are regulars on the Eagle Express often begin inviting their friends to join them, offering a point of connection for a new family to begin feeling comfortable with the bus. Then, the friend who tagged along returns the following week and starts to invite other friends. “Before you know, by the end of summer, we've started with a kid that was very timid and scared of participating [who is now] very vocal and eager and jumping on, but then bringing in multiple friends.”

The Eagle Express has also made a lasting impression on parents. “Last summer, we really got to see how much of an impression and how much of an impact is made on the family unit as a whole,” Lee said. Over the many weeks of summer programming, parents and guardians came to understand that the bus was a safe and inviting environment for their students. And, because they were visiting regularly, those families began to build relationships with the Eagle Express staff, too. “We started being able to talk and connect with the families just to relay a lot of what they would have experienced at the school level,” Lee explained, “but outside of school for the summer.”

Ultimately, the “big red bus” isn’t just a big red bus, Lee says. It’s an invitation to connect with the district, to feel proud of “my bus,” as students would describe it. It’s a way for anyone, especially those who are otherwise unable to participate in other programming, to access enriching and educational opportunities. When you remove barriers, Lee explained, people will seek you out.

“It ties back in with our district's mission to really show every one of you, no matter where you're from, what your background is, where you're standing right now, you matter — because there's opportunity for you,” said Lee, who’s looking ahead to his third summer of EPIC On-the-Go. “At the end of the day, as long as we can provide options, I think we're moving in the right direction. I think that's what the bus has practically done and served as a symbol for when we are showing up at places.”

Register for Summer 2026 Eagle Express Programming