After almost two years of waiting, the groundbreaking ceremony for construction to start at Parkway North took place on July 22.
“[The improvements are] much needed,” said North High principal David Jones. “I feel like our students at North deserve these upgrades. I feel like our staff deserves these upgrades, and mainly our community, who voted for these changes, would be proud… a lot of our community members are North High graduates, so they’re happy and proud to see the changes as well.”
In November of 2022, over 70 percent of voters voted in favor of Proposition S. This brought much-needed improvements to all 29 Parkway buildings, with the improvements spanning from 2023-2028.
For Parkway North, many necessary improvements are happening including finishing the storm shelter, creating a new FACS (family and consumer sciences) department, creating a new main entrance, updating the pool, adding new floor and new bleachers to the gym, adding an elevator to the theater, and building new administrative offices.
“I’m just super excited. I’ve been waiting a long time for this because it’s been in talks for a long time,” said FACS teacher Becky Samardzic.
One of the largest improvements that will happen is going to be the new FACS department. The current FACS department is out-of-date and is in need of an upgrade.
“It’s falling apart… it’s a mess. We have no storage, and things, especially in the kitchen, are breaking at an alarming rate,” said Samardzic. “It’s just not a very good learning environment.”
The new FACS department is projected to be completed in December of 2025. It will be located by the counseling offices.
“The program’s growing, and we need to have up-to-date equipment for our students and state-of-the-art equipment in the kitchen,” said Jones.
After the FACS department, a new main entryway will be built where the existing FACS department is. It will face Fee Fee Road, which will make it easier for people to identify the main entrance. An updated entrance will also increase the security of the school and the safety of the students and staff.
The pool is also undergoing renovations and is being reconditioned. It should hopefully be finished by the end of the school year, but the end date is not yet certain.
“I think the improvements in the pool will positively impact our team’s performance because we will be able to dive off the blocks better and it’s gonna be a fresh, new environment for us, so it’s going to boost our confidence and energy as a team,” said junior Kane Powell, who is a member of the swim team.
Other projects that will take place during the 2024-2025 school year will be finishing the storm shelter and adding new bleachers to the football stadium.
While the pool is being redone, the swim team is holding practices at Pattonville, and there will be no home meets.
The construction will not affect the day-to-day of the building much but will cause some difficulties.
“Besides some minor inconveniences like noise, or maybe the fire alarm goes off every once in a while when there’s construction going…we should be able to conduct business as normal,” said Jones.
However, the closure of the main staircase has created some inconvenience for students. “Getting to class is harder because the main stairs are blocked, and the hallways are a little bit [more] crowded,” said sophomore Nora Weiss. “It’s also kind of sad not to be able to see the windows there.”
Over the summer of 2025, they will work on the kitchen and new floors and bleachers in the gymnasium. Overall, many in the building are excited for the upcoming improvements but will have to deal with some inconveniences in the meantime.
