News & Articles | St. Louis Post-Dispatch Newspapers In Education

Mars mission shines spotlight on Parkway Central grad's handshake skills

Friday, December 7, 2018 - 12:31pm

Sure, they're showboating, but they'd just landed a spaceship.

A Chesterfield native had a big hand in the recent U.S. mission to Mars — and in the celebratory handshake that followed.

Brooke Harper, 29, stars in a video posted Monday by NASA on social media. It now has more than 3 million viewings.

The clip shows Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineers celebrating after they landed the Mars InSight probe on the planet to begin a two-year scientific study.

Missouri school board rehires commissioner ousted by Greitens allies last year

Wednesday, November 21, 2018 - 1:34pm

JEFFERSON CITY • In a stinging rebuke to former Gov. Eric Greitens, Missouri education officials are rehiring the commissioner who was ousted from her job last year.

Margie Vandeven, who was dismissed last year by a board that had been revamped by Greitens, will resume the $191,544 post she had held since 2015, officials said Tuesday.

Keeping teachers in St. Louis schools is tricky, so district is trying new hiring approach

Thursday, June 28, 2018 - 9:20am

ST. LOUIS • On one school day last month, more than 30 Hamilton Elementary students sat cross-legged on the gym floor, laughing at an episode of the ’90s television show “Recess” that was being projected on the wall.

They were watching TV because they had no gym or art teachers that day, said substitute teacher Janet Burns, who was supervising them. Those teachers were absent.

Public schools would have to pay for private virtual schools under new Missouri plan

Thursday, June 7, 2018 - 8:54am

Missouri public school students in kindergarten through 12th grade could take online courses for free, with their school district or charter school picking up the tab, under legislation that passed the Missouri House and Senate this month.

The main intent of the plan, dubbed the Missouri Course Access and Virtual School Program, is to expand course access for high school students in small, rural or cash-strapped schools that might lack the money or number of students to justify hiring staff to teach advanced courses, such as chemistry, Chinese or creative writing.

Pattonville schools succeed by meeting students where they are

Friday, May 25, 2018 - 11:43am

The Pattonville School District has a seemingly simple mantra: All children are capable of high academic performance.

“We really believe every single student is going to be proficient,” said Tim Pecoraro, Pattonville’s assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. “We know they’re not all going to get there at the same time. But our teachers believe that, our students believe that.”

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