Parkway Schools

Keeping students and staff safe is Parkway’s top priority. This shared responsibility involves staff, students, parents, and the entire Parkway community. Our approach covers many areas, from providing students with mental health resources to constant monitoring to building strong partnerships with law enforcement.

In this newsletter, we’ll update you on the steps we’re taking to protect our schools and how families can play an important role in supporting a safe and secure environment.

Fourteen school resource officers (SROs) serve in our schools through partnerships with Ballwin, Chesterfield, Creve Coeur, Manchester, Maryland Heights, Town & Country, and St. Louis County police departments. These partnerships began in 1998. Their priority: building strong relationships with students.

Every high school and middle school has an SRO. Elementary schools share four SROs. By being approachable and present, they often become the trusted adults students turn to when they need help or want to report a concern. These connections are a vital part of keeping our schools safe.

This fall, a number of Parkway schools have experienced hoax threats made over social media, chat groups, and phone lines. Every threat is taken seriously and thoroughly investigated by Parkway Security, local and national law enforcement. Families are always notified.

Greg Wagener, Coordinator of Student Discipline, joined law enforcement at a news conference to stress the consequences--often long-term suspensions when a student is involved, and criminal charges.

• Talk to your children about the seriousness of making threats.
• Don't repost threats. Instead, take a screen shot and report.
• Report any threat to the Parkway tipline, notify your principal, and/or contact Parkway Security at 314-415-8200.

Research shows that violence is preventable. That's why Parkway is rolling out a new threat assessment model to help spot and address potential risks. This approach gives us a clear, structured way to look into any threat made by a student and step in to ensure things don't escalate.

• How it works: A trained, multi-disciplinary team in each school carefully evaluates each situation and considers the student’s behavior and needs. In serious cases, we take disciplinary action, but we also focus on providing mental health and other support to help students get back on track.
• The timeline: Last year, teams were trained at the district level, North High, West Middle, and Barretts Elementary. Training is happening this fall at all high schools and Fern Ridge, with middle schools next spring and elementary schools in 2025-26. In the meantime, the district level team will provide support to schools as teams are being trained.
  
  

By using threat assessment, we’re not just improving safety—we’re also building stronger connections and communication between students, families, and staff. It’s a proactive way to keep our schools safe.

More than 600 Parkway employees have completed Stop the Bleed training, which provides the skills needed to help save a life in the event of a life-threatening injury. Every Parkway school has kits that contain items needed for trauma care, such as tourniquets, gauze, and bandages. It could potentially save a life until help arrives.

Parkway's 10-member security team is made up of retired law enforcement officials, first responders, and military veterans. Their shifts ensure our students, staff, and buildings are protected 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

More than 1,400 security cameras are inside and outside our schools and district buildings. Parkway's Security Team monitors these cameras 24/7 and dispatches a security officer whenever something looks concerning--whether it's a door propped open or a trespasser on property after hours.

A new, more secure entrance is under construction at North High School. It's part of a two-year, $28-million project that began in July and is funded by Proposition S, approved by voters in 2022.

The entrance will be a security vestibule--an enclosed area between the exterior and interior of the school. The design will give school staff control over who enters the building, providing another important layer of security. Once the new entrance is complete, all high schools, middle schools and elementary schools in Parkway will have security vestibules.

This year, Parkway made significant investments in supporting student mental health.

• Additional mental health specialists means every school in Parkway now has a full-time licensed, professional counselor, allowing us to better support students with higher-level needs.
• These specialists, along with additional staff licensed in therapeutic care, will address a range of growing concerns, including disruptive behavior and suicidal ideation.
  

These steps are part of our ongoing commitment to both mental health and school safety.

In compliance with Missouri law, our schools conduct the following emergency drills throughout the year to help students and staff know how to respond effectively in emergencies.

• Fire: Monthly
• Tornado/Severe weather: Once per semester
• Earthquake: Once per semester
• Intruder: Once per semester

Parkway has color-coded emergency protocols that allow for a quick response to situations ranging from a tornado to a police concern in the neighborhood. Here is what each code means.

• Code Green: All clear. This is normal operations.
• Code Yellow: Shelter in place. Students stay inside but may move throughout the building.
• Code Orange: Lockdown. Students remain both inside the building and inside secured classrooms.
• Code Red: Dangerous intruder. Escape or hide in secured classrooms.
• Code Blue: Weather emergency. Move away from windows, take cover.
  
  

• DO watch for text and email updates from Parkway
• DO rely only on official communication from school or law enforcement officials
  
• DO NOT go to your child’s school. Your presence could interfere with the investigation or first responders.
• DO NOT spread unconfirmed information on social media.

• Frequent text and email updates to parents at the impacted school.
• Text and email notification to all parents in the district if more than one school is impacted or the situation requires community members to avoid the area.
• Parents and community members will receive a notification when the all-clear is given.

We encourage students, parents and residents to report safety and security concerns and feel assured that their information will be immediately evaluated, responded to and held in the strictest confidence. The tip line and the 415-SAFE phone line are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to anyone wishing to report any information.

You can send a tip here or by calling 314-415-SAFE (7233).