Clayton Among Missouri's Top Five High Schools

That's according to the U.S. News and World Report, which listed Clayton High School as the second best high school in the state.

Clayton High School is the second best high school in Missouri, according to rankings released by U.S. News & World Report on Tuesday. It is the second year in a row Clayton High School has received the honor.  The school is also ranked 187th nationally in the 2013 Best High Schools Rankings. U.S. News collaborated with the American Institutes for Research, a D.C.-based organization, to rank student performance on such criteria as state-mandated assessments, how the schools educated minority or poor students, and performance on advanced placement exams in order to develop the rankings. Check out the full list of top schools in Missouri:

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Clayton Youngsters Learn About Going Green

Glenridge Elementary recently introduced the Green Team, allowing students to participate in gardening, composting, recycling and school beautification projects.

Glenridge Elementary's new Green Team. The club was announced in the school's most recent Panther Pause newsletter. "Earth Day is not just April 22nd…it’s everyday!" First through fourth graders will have opportunities to garden, compost, recycle and participate in school beautification projects, according to the announcement. Do you know a student who may be interested in participating? Have them fill out this form and return it to Mr. Kearney.

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Snow Day for MRH Students Monday

The inclement weather has prompted several businesses around Clayton and Richmond Heights to close early on Sunday. We'll update Monday closings as more information becomes available.

Correction: The School District of Clayton is on spring break this week. No classes were scheduled for Monday, March 25. Our previous story: Sunday's spring snowstorm is prompting cancellations around Maplewood and Brentwood. The Maplewood-Richmond Heights School District have cancelled classes for Monday due to inclement weather.  Clayton School District offices and Kid Zone are also cancelled. Patch will update this post as we hear about other closings. Please add closings you know about to the comment section.

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Clayton Teacher Earns Yale's Distinguished Music Educator Award

Choir Teacher Jerry Estes will receive his award in June at the Yale Symposium on Music in Schools.

Wydown Middle School Choir Teacher Jerry Estes has been selected to receive the Yale University School of Music’s prestigious 2013 Yale Distinguished Music Educator Award. This award is presented biennially to 50 music educators from across the country who are selected, based on their outstanding accomplishments while teaching music in public schools, to attend the Yale Symposium on Music in Schools. “Jerry Estes is the epitome of choir teachers. He is multitalented – a teacher, a writer and a composer whose music is published and used by other middle schools throughout the country,” said WMS Principal Mary Ann Goldberg, who nominated Estes for the honor. “Jerry is a creative, supportive, child-centered educator who truly engages his …

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Mayoral Candidate Talks Important Partnerships for Clayton

Alex Berger III outlines what he will do if elected to strengthen the relationships with the Clayton School District and our Business Community.

Missouri Supreme Court Reviewing School Transfers Law

The high court will review who would be responsible for the tuition of transfer students.

The Missouri Supreme Court will get a second chance to hear about the controversial school transfer law Tuesday, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Currently, the state law says students of unaccredited school districts can transfer to better, neighboring accredited school districts with the home district footing the bill. The school transfers case, which evolved from the Turner vs. Clayton case, mainly dealt with the question of whether accredited St. Louis County school districts, such as Clayton or Maplewood-Richmond Heights, would be required to enroll students who request a transfer from an unaccredited district. In the St. Louis Metropolitan area, Normandy and Riverview Gardens remain unaccredited school districts. The St. …

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Clayton School District Officials Meeting With First-Responders

The school wants to make "thoughtful, purposeful decisions," following the mass shooting in Connecticut.

Friday's mass shooting of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT, hasn't prompted the Clayton School District to immediately implement new safety measures. Clayton Schools Communications Officer Chris Tennil responded to what Clayton schools are doing in the wake of the tragedy. We're in the process of meeting with local first-responders and reviewing all of our policies and procedures (as every school will in the wake of a tragedy such as Newtown). The key is that we need to make thoughtful, purposeful decisions about the safety of our students and staff and not get caught up in knee-jerk reactions just because, like everybody else, we are looking to make sense out of something that will be forever …

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Wydown Middle's Assistant Principal Named Assistant Superintendent in Clayton

Dr. Milena Garganigo has worked as a teacher and administrator in the Clayton School District since 1996.

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified Dr. Milena Garganigo's previous position. We are very sorry for the mistake. A graduate of Clayton High School who has worked in the district since 1996 was named Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning last week. Dr. Milena Garganigo started as assistant superintendent on Monday. She previously worked at Wydown Middle School, first as a Spanish teacher then as assistant principal*. “I am extremely excited and humbled to be able to serve the district on a larger scale, focusing on the work that I am truly passionate about,” stated Garganigo in a June 29 news release. "Her knowledge of the district and her passion for curriculum, instruction, assessment and …

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CHS Science and Technology Construction Nearly Complete

Clayton High School will show off its new additions at an event planned Sunday afternoon.

Staff and students’ long wait for the use of the newly added and renovated Proposition S construction project is finally over at Clayton High School. “The principal will tell you that it is the first time she has ever seen upperclassmen this excited to come back to school," said Chris Tennill, chief communications officer for the School District of Clayton. This project, in the making for more than two years, will wrap up in October with the completion of CHS theater renovations. Those include the addition of an orchestra pit and a gut renovation of all of the sound, lighting, fly areas and stage. On Sunday, the school will host a public event to celebrate the completion of construction. This event will take place from 2 to 4 p.m. and will…

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James Baer

8:24 pm on Friday, September 23, 2011

Glad to see Clayton take such a progressive stand on behalf of its students. Nice tour account by writer Rhonda Weiche.   more ›

Math Curriculum Update Draws Questions on Textbooks, Teaching Styles

The Clayton Board of Education is expected to receive a final draft of the review in June. Changes in the district's curriculum have been in the making for nearly six years.

The Clayton Board of Education received a much-anticipated final update on the district’s math curriculum review Wednesday night, and board members made sure to make one thing clear: This is the beginning of a complex process. The board received the update from Dottie Barbeau, assistant superintendent of teaching and learning; Heidi Shepard, the district’s director of assessment and mathematics; parent Ruth Hall; and teacher Tyler Harger of the K-12 Math Committee. The presentation of the final review is expected in June. The group has been tasked with developing a curriculum comparable to others used internationally. Its members have studied programs from places such as Singapore, Finland and Hong Kong. Where possible, they have …

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