January 2022 Newsletter

Ready... Set... Spark! Meet one of the ways YOU can partner with Parkway. Spark! is an example of how business, community and public education can partner to produce personalized learning experiences that educate the workforce of the future, especially in high skill, high demand jobs. Spark! provides high school students in the Parkway School District with dynamic, immersion-based student learning experiences to ensure students can understand and respond to an ever-changing world.

Featured here (in this video), students co-founded a business and are prototyping a product to help kids manage anxiety and depression.

For inquiries or to help Spark! contact xmeyer@parkwayschools.net or jstanfill@parkwayschools.net.

Mardi Gras - Laissez les bons temps rouler!

(Let the good times roll!)

Make plans to join us online for our 2022 Parkway Virtual Trivia Night on Saturday, Feb. 26, at 7 p.m. Anyone with online access can participate, so get your far-flung friends and family to join you online for this fun event. Tables of 8 are $200; mulligans (6) are $20.

Can't join us for trivia night? You can still buy raffle tickets and win items from the online raffle by clicking here.

Be one of our event sponsors and get your name/logo on screens while players contemplate their answers.

Proceeds will benefit PAA programs that include Granting Dreams for Parkway students and recognition for exceptional teachers and operations staff. Purchase tickets or become a sponsor here.

Join us on the second Tuesday of each month for an all-alumni networking event. Hear from alums about their current work and meet other Parkway alumni in our community. The next meeting is set for February 8th. To attend, email parkwayalumni@parkwayschools.net to be added to the meeting invite list.

Submit your nominations before the March 1 deadline.

The Parkway Alumni Association is seeking nominations for the 2022 Parkway Alumni Association Hall of Fame class. Parkway graduates chosen for the Parkway Hall of Fame are those who have made a noteworthy impact on the lives of others through their work in their respective career fields or through their unique contributions to their community. Please provide details of the nominee’s accomplishments that qualify this individual for Parkway Hall of Fame distinction by addressing the topics listed below. Including a letter of recommendation that makes this person a compelling nominee is encouraged. Letters and additional supporting information will need to be submitted separately by emailing them to Sandy Riutcel, PAA executive director, at sriutcel@parkwayschools.net. Online submissions can be completed here.

Mark your calendars for a 5k honoring longtime Parkway parent and educator, Nancy Simpson, on April 2, 2022 at Queeny Park. The 5k will start promptly at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, 4/2/22. The kids 100 yard dash will follow the walk/run at 10:00 a.m.

Register here.

The race will benefit the Granting Dreams Program, with a memorial fund set up in Nancy's name. More details to come!

The Granting Dreams application is officially open and ends on Monday, Feb. 14, at 11:59 p.m. thanks to your generous support! The Granting Dreams program offers three grant opportunities for Parkway students who have a dream to learn outside their regular classroom: Dream Grants for Parkway K-12 students, Thomas Phelps Entrepreneurship Awards for students (grades 9-12) interested in business, and John Baker Music Scholar Awards for band students (grades 10-11). We are looking forward to seeing the applicant's dreams come true this year! Click here to make a donation. For as little as $25 you can help make dreams happen!

170 Parkway South band students and teachers will compose music for a movie and at Disney thanks to a grant from Keep Live Alive St. Louis and Van Gogh the Immersive Experience! Read More

All five Parkway middle schools and all 18 elementary schools have been named among the best middle and elementary schools in the state according to U.S. News & World Report.

The inaugural K-8 rankings use state assessment data as well as the context of socioeconomic demographics. In other words, the top-ranked schools are all high achieving and have succeeded at educating all their students

Earlier this month, seven of our high school students were named all-state band members. Congratulations.

Parkway South honored its former wrestling coach and athletic director Chip Allison by renaming its tournament for him.

The Patriot Classic now will be known as the Chip Allison Patriot Classic. Read More

More than 6,000 canned food items were collected in Parkway West High School’s recent food drive challenge, which set a new record for the most donations.

Earlier this month, students and staff collected 6,788 canned food items, which exceeded last year’s record by 2,000 items. Read More

Congratulations to West’s own Debra Klevens on her Distinguished Yearbook Advisor of the Year award!

In an era when yearbook advisors are required to innovate, comfort, and inspire, Klevens embodies all of those traits and more. Her forward-thinking nature helps her lead a group of students with a constant desire to innovate and achieve.

"Having worked in education in five buildings for nearly 30 years," principal Jeremy Mitchell said, "it is easy to declare Debra Klevens as - by far - the most progressive, forward-thinking, student-centered yearbook advisor whom I've had the privilege to work with."

Our wonderful, caring, brilliant, humble, mentor, Principal, friend and citizen, Dr. Richard Overfelt, passed away Thursday, January 6, 2022. His service will be private and more information will follow as to donations in his name. What a wonderful tribute to his legacy. Read More or Read More Here

Working at Parkway High School from 1958 to 2012. His leadership was second to none as he held various roles during his tenure. Celebrate Coach's legacy with a gift to his new memorial fund which will directly support the PAA Granting Dreams program. Contact sriutcel@parkwayschools.net for more information. Contribute to the Coach John Schnell Athletic Giving Fund here.

The story of the Parkway School District in St. Louis starts with a little background into the originator of the District, a father who wanted a better education for his children. Read More