Parkway North Makes Newsweek's Top High Schools List

All but one Parkway high school made Newsweek's "America's Best High Schools" list. Tell us what you think makes a school its best.

Newsweek just released its "America's Best High Schools" list where it ranks 2,000 public schools across the country. All but one Parkway high school made the list. Those include Parkway South ranked at 697, Parkway Central ranked at 668, Parkway West ranked at 684. Parkway North made the list last year, as well. It has moved up the list. Parkway North ranked at 889 this year. Last year, the school came in 947. Read: Newsweek Names Parkway North a Top School Parkway South also ranked in the #11 slot among the 23 Missouri schools on the list. Remember you can like Maryland Heights Patch on Facebook. Don't forget to visit Twitter: @MarylandHtPatch, or signup for the Maryland Heights Patch newsletter here. Newsweek's list is based on six …

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Pattonville Teaching Female High Schoolers to 'Think Like a Man'

On Tuesday, Jan. 29, in room B104, get answers to these questions and more at the "Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man" male panel discussion.

The following is aggregated information from the daily announcements at Pattonville High School. Listen up ladies! Have you ever wondered what guys are thinking? What they find to be attractive? What kinds of girls they respect? Or how they feel about commitment?   On Tuesday, Jan. 29, in room B104, get answers to these questions and more at the "Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man" male panel discussion.   Don't miss out on this unique opportunity to have your questions answered. Space is limited.   Sign up in the Guidance Office by the end of school on Friday.

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The Squeeze on Zs: Parkway Students Fatigued by Early Start Times

Parkway moved high school start times back to 7:35 a.m. Some students and sleep researchers say it's too early, but Parkway officials say the school day length puts them in a time crunch, too.

When Zack Becker fell asleep near the end of his third hour algebra and trigonometry class, it took the teacher and other students five minutes to wake him up. This year, the Parkway School District moved high school start times back from 8 a.m. last year to 7:35 a.m., subtracting precious minutes of slumber from students’ sleep schedules. The move was recommended by the Project Parkway task force, which included parents and staff. The change move the middle school start time from 7:25 a.m.--even earlier than the current high school schedule--to 8:15 a.m. Becker, a sophomore at Parkway North High School, is in the marching band, which meets before school. During band season, the group met at 6:30 a.m. for practice, meaning Becker had to …

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Dolores Skowronek

7:47 pm on Sunday, February 5, 2012

Hi Zack, hang in there. It takes a lot of courage to speak up against a bad school policy. If you were my son, I would be very proud of you! I live in a district with a 7:10 start time and I see how it impacts the health of my 16 year old son. It breaks my heart. The start time is very hard on him and he struggles with it. I signed the petition and I hope others will too. We need sane start times…   more ›

Pattonville’s Pressure Bursts Parkway Central’s Bubble In Girls Hoops Battle

Pirates full-court press defense leaves Colts dazed in 61-21 win.

CHESTERFIELD – Coming off two sensational wins to start the season, the Pattonville High girls basketball team expected to face its first significant challenge of the season, Tuesday night, in a non-conference game against Parkway Central High. It was clear right from the tip though, that the Pirates were up to the task. Pattonville held Parkway Central scoreless for the entire first quarter, and led 29-1 midway through the second quarter, before eventually cruising to a 61-21 win over the host Colts. “We played pretty well as a team,” Pattonville head coach Craig Gregory said. “That was probably the closest we’ve played four (full) quarters all season. “(Parkway Central) is a good team. I’ve seen them play several times, and the score …

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Keene Heads to Texas, Confident in Successor

Sara Keene leaves Pattonville High School after three years as principal.

Sara Keene continued boxing up her office Tuesday morning. The outgoing Pattonville High School principal is moving to Houston. Her husband received a job transfer, and Keene announced her Pattonville departure in January. Keene served as Pattonville High’s principal for three years, coming from a school in Columbia, IL. Her last school had only 550 students, she said, which required her to wear a lot of hats as principal. She did everything from salting the parking lot to helping kids in the food line at her last school, she said. At Pattonville, she was able to work more closely with assistants and utilize their leadership skills. Keene said also that Pattonville had many more tools for student learning than her previous school. Now that…

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Mom's the Word

The Time Machine

The older kids are, the more quickly they grow up. It’s an enigma.

It seems like yesterday my kindergartner was waving goodbye to me from the bus on his first day of school, while his big sister—a “pro” in third grade— was busy chatting to her friends and ignored me. Where did the time go? Maybe it raced by because I had another baby last summer, and she's kept me extra busy for the past 10 months. Or maybe it’s because as we get older, time simply disappears into oblivion. Poof! Another year inexplicably gone. The days have sped up this last semester because I’ve also had a teenager living with me. My niece, whose family recently moved out of the school district, moved in with us at the beginning of April.   With term papers, prom, finals, extreme chauffeuring, and nonstop texting (which I’ve come to …

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Comments from Patchland: Fish on a Bike, Doughnuts and Deer

We can count on food whetting your appetite for comments around Patchland. See what else inspired your ire, admiration or angst.

We're learning that food always gets you talking. And animals. Always with the animals—whether they eat your shrubbery or are captured in sculpture on a city pond. Check out some of the choice comments from the past week around St. Louis-area Patchland. Click a link to add your comments to that article. Let's get this straight: The longer line is for the healthier option? Parkway North High Lunches Full of Fast Food and Sugary Snacks "I have been confounded by the menu at PNH for years. Another issue is the short lunch period. Not because students don't have enough time to eat, but because they don't have enough time to get through the longer line for the healthier options." — Melissa Moulton, Maryland Heights Patch They should visit the …

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Lunch in 30

Parkway North High Lunches Full of Fast Food and Sugary Snacks

While Parkway North has a truly impressive salad bar, the rest of its offerings would not impress ABC's Jamie Oliver.

After my surprisingly good experience with Pattonville High School’s lunches, I went into Parkway North assuming I’d find yet another example of how St. Louis schools were vastly superior to everything represented in Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution on ABC. Oliver is on a mission to improve nutrition in the nation's schools. As I entered the cafeteria, I first passed a group of snack carts laden with a wide variety of Little Debbie Snack Cakes and assorted potato chips. Next came an ice cream stand offering scoops of cookies and cream, vanilla or chocolate as well as ice cream sandwiches and frozen cone treats. A few feet away stood a bank of half a dozen vending machines packed with candy bars, chips and cookies. In a token nod to health, …

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Lunch in 30

Whole Wheat Offerings Get Pattonville High’s Cafeteria Food High Marks

Our restaurant reviewer went in expecting prison food and came out full of praise for Pattonville High School’s cafeteria.

I was a little nervous when my editor asked me, as a professional restaurant reviewer, to sample Pattonville High School’s lunches. When I graduated from high school in the 1990s, my Oklahoma school lunch line was a horrifying vestigial counter engulfed by full-sized food court offerings from Pizza Hut and McDonald’s. Vegetables included french fries and tater tots. Snacking from the numerous soda and candy machines was encouraged as a patriotic way to help fund school projects. Diet sodas and fruit roll-ups were health food. Today’s Pattonville High School cafeteria is a different world. The school got rid of the deep fat fryers 15 years ago. There were no vending machines or sodas for sale. The tiny a la carte line does offer slices of …

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UPDATE: Joe Dobrinic Named New Pattonville High Principal

Pattonville School District says Dobrinic will begin the position July 1.

Joe Dobrinic will be the new principal of Pattonville High School as of July 1, 2011. Dobrinic is currently the principal of Hazlewood West High School. Dr. Mike Fulton, superintendent of Pattonville School District, said in a press release that Dobrinic will be a "great addition" to the high school. "He is familiar with the Pattonville community," Fulton said in the release, "and he brings many years of experience as an educational leader at the secondary level that will be of great benefit to our students." Dobrinic will replace Dr. Sara Keene, who announced that she would leave the school at the end of June to move to Texas. According to the press release, Dobrinic graduated from Pattonville High School in 1988. He earned a bachelor's …

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