News and Stories

The Park Hill Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) elective senior class of 2026 officially earned more than $2.3 million in scholarships.

We are #ParkHillProud of the 2025-2026 Park Hill High School boys and girls volleyball teams for earning the American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award for maintaining a 3.3 or higher GPA for the entire school year.

Join us in celebrating our schools recognized with the MO SW-PBS Award of Excellence for creating exceptional, positive learning environments where every student can succeed.

We are #ParkHillProud to announce that Tyler Unsell has been named a 2027 Missouri Regional Teacher of the Year! 

We are #ParkHillProud of our students who qualified for the Missouri Job Olympics.

Students from Park Hill High School took center stage recently at the Kansas City Cappies Gala. The gala is a celebration of all things related to high school theatre. 

Join us in celebrating our high school musical theatre departments following Starlight’s annual Blue Star Awards!

From Riverside to the Great White Way, we have our first-ever nominee from Park Hill South heading to the Jimmy Awards! 

We are #ParkHillProud of our juniors earning KC Scholars awards.

Following their success at districts, Park Hill South Band, Choir and Orchestra students recently competed in the 2026 MSHSAA State Solo and Ensemble Festival. These musicians carried their momentum to the University of Missouri for a stellar showing on the state stage.

We are #ParkHillProud of our first-ever Seal of Biliteracy recipients!  This award recognizes graduating students who demonstrate proficiency in English and one or more other world language(s), while also proving their ability to connect across cultures.

We’re proud to announce that our four middle schools have been named Project Lead the Way (PLTW) 2025-26 Distinguished Gateway Schools.

Student musicians from the Park Hill High School Band, Choir and Orchestra programs delivered an incredible series of performances on the state stage.

Park Hill High School DECA took on the world in Atlanta and won! Congratulations to our students for their outstanding achievements at the International Career Development Conference (ICDC) including winning 1st Place in the Integrated Marketing Campaign competition!

We are #ParkHillProud of the journalism students from Park Hill and Park Hill South High Schools who brought home awards from the 2026 Journalism Educators of Metro Kansas City (JEMKC) Contest - and the South Side Scoop brought home Best Overall Broadcast Program for the third year in a row!

Big news from Park Hill South! The South Side Scoop has been named a Student Pillar of Excellence Winner by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) in Newscast and in Craft Talent.

We are #ParkHillProud of Walden Middle School student, Hattie McCabe, who was named the top middle school Student Council Member in the state!

Big news from Columbia! Our journalism students from Park Hill and Park Hill South did us proud at the Missouri Interscholastic Journalism Association's (MIJA) Journalism Day!

Congratulations are in order for both Park Hill High School and Park Hill South! Both schools have received the Missouri Association of Student Councils (MASC) Honor Council Gold Award. 

We are #ParkHillProud of seniors Kai Soo (PHHS), Angela Villamayor (PHHS) and Jonah Hicks (PHS)! They were recently named to the 32nd annual Missouri Scholars 100 program.

Park Hill High School wrestlers left it all on the mat at the state tournament and earned their spots on the podium.

Congratulations to the South Side Scoop staff for bringing home national honors from the Student Television Network (STN) Broadcast Excellence Awards in Tampa.

Our National Merit Semifinalists are officially National Merit Finalists, a distinction earned by fewer than one percent of U.S. high school graduating seniors!

We are #ParkHillProud of Park Hill South High School senior and Student Council President Peter Ensminger. He was awarded the Distinguished Student Leader Award by the MASC - Missouri Association of Student Councils

Join us in celebrating our girls swim and dive state champions!

A standing ovation goes to our dance teams from Park Hill and Park Hill South high schools.

Congratulations to our award-winning artists at Park Hill South High School. 

Congratulations, Chamberlain Webster! The Park Hill High School senior has been named the Bronze Award recipient of the Missouri Good Citizens Award.

This just in, we are #ParkHillProud of Park Hill South juniors Lexi Grimm and Melisa Taletovic, who will be taking the stage at the National Student Television Network (STN) Excellence Awards and Closing Ceremonies.

We are #ParkHillProud of Kristen Mitchell, assistant principal at Hawthorn Elementary, who was named Assistant Principal of the Year by the Clay-Platte Region of the Missouri Association of Elementary School Principals

We are #ParkHillProud of Pahola Espana from Park Hill High School and Caroline Rieger from Park Hill South High School, for winning the McAfee Award through Park University.

Congratulations to our musicians named to the All-State Band or Orchestra. These students will travel to Osage Beach in January to perform at state music education conference. 

We are #ParkHillProud to share that Khadra Ahmed, a senior at Park Hill South, has matched with Macalester College through the QuestBridge program.

Congratulations to Park Hill High seniors Maddox Follen (bass) and Angela Villamayor (alto), and Park Hill South senior Connor Thompson (bass) for earning spots in the prestigious Missouri All-State Choir

Congratulations to the Park Hill High School girls volleyball teams from 1987 to 2000 on being inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame!

Please congratulate our Park Hill South broadcast students who excelled at Student Television Network (STN) 4-State.

Shoutout to Park Hill South senior Josh Wilson, who was selected to be a National Art Honor Society Student Council Ambassador.

Congratulations to our runners who finished the season strong at the MSHSAA Class 5 State Cross Country meet.

We are #ParkHillProud of Park Hill High School senior Ruby Bell for earning All-State honors at the MSHSAA Girls Class 4 Golf Championship!

Park Hill middle schools are making the grade—literally!

We are #ParkHillProud of Amber Nieznajko, gifted teacher at Tiffany Ridge and Angeline Washington Elementary Schools, for being named the Science Teachers of Missouri (STOM) Elementary Level Award Winner for outstanding science instruction!

We are #ParkHillProud of Park Hill High School Assistant Principal Tom Garth, who was named the Missouri Association of Student Councils' (MASC) Northwest Administrator of the Year!

We are #ParkHillProud of Congress Middle School Custodian Shane Williams and Hawthorn Elementary Custodian Justina Garcia for achieving the Missouri School Plant Manager Association's Facility Managers CORE Certification.

We are #ParkHillProud of our five National Merit Commended Students from Park Hill High School!

We are #ParkHillProud of our four National Merit Commended Students from Park Hill South High School!

We are #ParkHillProud of our six National Merit Semifinalists!

We are #ParkHillProud of Park Hill High School and Park Hill South High School! According to U.S. News & World Report, they rank as the top two traditional public high schools on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metro area.

We’re #ParkHillProud of the 2024–2025 Park Hill High School girls and boys volleyball teams for earning the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award Sponsored by INTENT.

Park Hill South's Music and Theatre Departments brought home top honors at Starlight's Blue Star Awards.

We are #ParkHillProud of Chinn Elementary for being named the 2025 Rita Blitt Kindest School by Synergy Services.

Congratulations to Renner Elementary School for earning the 2023-2025 National PTA School of Excellence award! 

We are #ParkHillProud of our newest Project ADAM certified schools, Park Hill South High School and Gerner Family Early Education Center.

Congratulations to the Gerner Family Early Education Center for receiving a five-year term of accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) again!

We are #ParkHillProud of our newest Project ADAM certified school, Walden Middle School!

Congratulations to our nine new Project ADAM certified schools.