Category: District

A 1984 Pattonville High School graduate has been the MVP — Most Valuable Painter — for the St. Louis Cardinals this year. Patrick Barrett became the painter foreman in November 2018 after working seasonally for 12 years with the team. His rookie season was during high school when he worked on the grounds crew while his father was employed as a seasonal painter. 

“What makes my job cool is I get to paint everything at Busch Stadium from the front offices to the dugout to the bullpen and the concourse areas,” he said. “I could also be out in the parking lot painting stripes or painting Yadier Molina’s catcher’s mask.”

Molina debuted a hockey style catcher's mask on Aug. 26 that featured a yellow face shield.

“The guys in the clubhouse sent me a picture of the mask and asked if I could paint it for him,” Barrett said. “The shield was blue to start with, so after picking the color yellow he wanted, I lightly scuffed the paint, primed it and then put about four coats of the yellow paint on.”

Category: District

Out of about 460 public school districts in Missouri, Pattonville is ranked No. 10 among the top districts on Niche.com’s 2023 Best School Districts in America list. Nationally, Niche ranks Pattonville in the Top 4% of districts (No. 401 out of 10,751).

In Missouri, Pattonville is ranked No. 1 for Most Diverse School Districts; No. 4 for Best Places to Teach; and No. 13 for Districts with the Best Teachers. Pattonville earned an overall grade of A from Niche, with grades ranging from A- to A+ in the following categories: academics, college prep, clubs and activities, diversity, resources and facilities and teachers. Niche is an online service that ranks private and public schools and districts based on dozens of statistics and opinions from students, parents and staff. Find out more at bit.ly/psdNiche.

Category: District

Holman Middle School art teacher Montie Richter was unanimously selected as a recipient of the Prang Art Teacher of the Year award. She was surprised with a special announcement during her second hour class on Oct. 3. 

This national program recognizes 10 art teachers annually who have made significant contributions in the lives of their students by advancing art education and inspiring self-expression through art. More than 2,000 people across the country nominated art teachers deserving of this honor and winners were chosen by a selection committee. Richter had 43 unique nominations and will receive a customized plaque and $5,000 worth of Prang art supplies.

Category: District

Pattonville High School students interested in engineering, architecture, design, construction and business got a behind the scenes look at the Bridgeton Target remodel on Sept. 15. 

ConstructReach, a construction industry workforce development initiative and consultancy, hosted an “I Built This!” event on Sept. 15 in Bridgeton outside the Target store that is in Week 13 of a 20-week renovation project. 

About 40 Pattonville High School students joined teenagers from neighboring school districts to learn about the construction industry and engage in hands-on activities, including those related to carpentry, fixturing, design and technology, mechanical and plumbing.

Category: District

The Pattonville Board of Education on Sept. 27 voted to approve the district tax rate for the 2022-2023 school year. School boards in St. Louis County set tax rates each year for four classes of property within school district boundaries: residential, commercial, personal and agricultural. The rates for all four property classes, as approved by the board, are: residential: $4.2858; agricultural: $5.3756; commercial: $5.5186; and personal property: $5.3845.

Category: District

Sixth graders in Matt Loyet’s social studies class participated in a treasure hunt. Using specific coordinates and satellite mode on Apple Maps, the students went outside on Tuesday and looked for gold coins that Loyet had hidden around Holman Middle School. 

The class learned about latitude and longitude during a geography unit and Loyet spent about three hours outside putting together the scavenger hunt for his students. 

Loyet hid 10 gold coins for each class and shared the specific coordinates list with the students. Two of the hidden coins had an extra location taped to them leading them to a special prize. 

“I found one of the bonus coins that had another location on it and then we typed those coordinates into our iPad,” Talia Masin said. 

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