The Parma City School District is the second largest of thirty-one school districts in Cuyahoga County proudly serving over 13,000 students in the communities of Parma, Parma Heights, and Seven Hills. The Parma City School District provides a complete program of academic, vocational, and special education courses.
The Parma City School District consists of three high schools, three middle schools, fifteen elementary schools, and the Arlington special needs school. The district maintains three clusters, each consisting of one high school (grades 9-12), one middle school (grades 7-8), and several neighborhood elementary schools (K-6).
Over 60% of the teaching and administrative staff employed by the Parma City School District hold masters degrees or higher. The average teacher in the district has sixteen years of experience. Among the district's teachers and administrators are textbook authors, nationally known speakers, and recognized experts in their fields.
The mission of the Parma City School District, the driving force for education in the communities we serve, is to develop confident students with skills necessary to actively compete in a technological world by stimulating critical thinking, sound decision-making, effective communication, cultural appreciation, and the joy of life-long learning. Through academic, vocational, and special education coursework, the Parma City School District is developing the leaders of the future.
Neighborhood Schools
The Parma City School District believes in the neighborhood school concept. As a result the district maintains three clusters each consisting of one high school (grades 9-12), one middle school (grades 7-8), and feeder elementary schools (grades K-6).
The NORMANDY HIGH SCHOOL CLUSTER consists of Hillside Middle School and Dag Hammarskjold, Dentzler, Green Valley, and Lt. Col. John Glenn Elementary Schools.
The PARMA SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL CLUSTER consists of Shiloh Middle School and John Muir, Parkview, Renwood, State Road and Thoreau Park Elementary Schools.
The VALLEY FORGE HIGH SCHOOL CLUSTER consists of Greenbriar Middle School and James E. Hanna, Parma Park, Pearl Road, Pleasant Valley, Pleasantview and Ridge-Brook Elementary Schools. The Arlington facility hosting the First Step Preschool Program is also part of the Valley Forge Cluster.
The City of Parma is the largest of our three communities with a population of approximately 87,900 and has two high schools, two middle schools, and fifteen elementary schools within its borders. Parma Heights, with a population of approximately 21,000 and has one high school and two elementary schools; and Seven Hills, with a population of approximately 12,340 has one middle school and one elementary school.
Education for All Children
Kindergarten
The district operates half-day kindergarten programs in all 15 elementary school buildings. The kindergarten programs are designed to prepare children for school, develop social skills, and promote the foundation for future learning.
Elementary School
The elementary program, grades 1 through 6, consists of the subject areas of reading, language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, health education, music, art, and physical education.
Middle School
The middle school education program provides a transition from elementary school to senior high school. The middle school "House" program places a group of students with a team of teachers to provide individualized attention.
High School
The high school educational program offers college preparatory and vocational courses in addition to honors and advanced placement courses of study. A variety of extracurricular activities are also available.
Additional Programs and Services
Athletics
Normandy, Parma and Valley Forge High Schools compete in the highly competitive Pioneer League. All three high schools qualify for the Division I classification. Fall, winter, and spring sports are available for young men and women including football, soccer, volleyball, track, cross country, basketball, wrestling, tennis, golf, swimming & diving, baseball, softball and ice hockey. In addition, there are also 9th grade and middle school athletic programs. Cheerleading and/or drill team activities are available at all levels.
Media Centers
All school buildings have media centers. Printed, audio-visual, and computer-based materials are available in an "open-library" atmosphere where students are encouraged to use media skills to refine their critical thinking abilities as they search for information.
Transportation
The transportation policy of the Parma City School District meets the State's minimum standards and allows Kindergarten through eighth grade students, who live more than two miles from their schools, to be transported. The system maintains a fleet of buses for this purpose and has additional vehicles to transport disabled students. A computer program assigns students to the appropriate bus route. Parents and students are informed by mail of bus number, time and location of street pickup to school and return home.
Music
Music training and courses are available at all elementary buildings, and most buildings have an elementary choir and band/orchestra. The middle schools offer choral and instrumental programs; and the high schools feature marching band, flag corps, orchestra, small groups, string ensembles, choral and glee clubs, and a variety of other musical experiences.
Art
For many years, the district has had the premier art program in the area. Parma City School District art students are traditionally winners in the local scholastic art competitions and receive national recognition. Art classes are available in all grades.
Computers
Computer education begins in kindergarten and continues through graduation. All 8th and 9th grade students are required to take computer application classes. These courses focus on use of the computer as a tool. Skills are applied in all curricular areas. Additionally, there are offerings in Business, Math, Industrial Arts, and Advanced Computer Applications.
Contact Information
The principal or administrator in the building your child attends is the BEST source of information about procedures or practices in that building. If you have a question that deals with the school system as a whole, the phone directory below may be helpful. If you are unsure about whom to call, this guide may be of help.
ADULT BASIC LITERACY EDUCATION 440-842-7102 (7103)
- Information on ESL (English as a Second Language), GED Testing, Reading Improvement, Writing Improvement, Math Improvement, Citizenship, and Family Math, Science and Reading Workshops.
ATHLETICS 440-885-8318
- Information on athletic programs
AUXILIARY SERVICES 440-885-8314
- Information dealing with aid to non-public schools through special funding from the federal government
BUILDING PERMITS 440-885-8752
- Information or questions about building permits to utilize space or facilities within any Parma City School District building
BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS 440-885-2325
- Questions concerning building maintenance and repair
CURRICULUM 440-885-7084
- Information regarding K-12 school curriculum
DAY CARE CENTER 440-885-2409
- This center, located at Normandy High School, provides care for preschool children and is open to employees and the general public. It is open on all regularly scheduled school days from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
EXTENDED DAY CARE CENTER 440-885-8309
- Extended Day Care is available to parents of kindergarten through sixth grade students at most elementary buildings and provides activities from 7 a.m. until the start of the normal school day, and from the close of the school day until 6 p.m.
FIRST STEP PROGRAM 440-885-7085
HUMAN RESOURCES 440-885-8779
- Teaching personnel and job applications for teachers and substitute teaching positions
INFORMATION SYSTEMS 440-885-3765
- Questions about any type of technology (computers, film library, audio-visual equipment, etc.) in the schools
Parma Council of PTAs
- The Parma City School District boasts over 5,471 parents as members of the district's 24 PTA units. The PTA works with the school system on a wide variety of programs including raising over $100,000 in scholarships that are awarded each year to graduating seniors in the district. Contact your school building for the name and phone number of your PTA president.
SAFETY & SECURITY 440-885-2495
- Questions or concerns about safety within the Parma City Schools
SCHOOL / COMMUNITY RELATIONS & CBS 440-885-8790
STUDENT SERVICES 440-885-8334
- Information on registration, attendance, guidance counselors, home tutors, psychologists, testing, and truancy
SCHOOL LUNCHES 440-885-2453
- Information or questions about the district cafeteria program
SCHOOL NURSES 440-443-5660
- Health questions or information about the school nurses
SPECIAL EDUCATION 440-885-8308
- Questions about educational experiences for students with special needs in all areas with the exception of hearing impaired
SUBSTITUTE SERVICE 440-885-8783
- Information about substitute teaching in the Parma City Schools
TRANSPORTATION 440-885-8324
- Questions or information concerning transportation of any student by the school system
TREASURER'S OFFICE 440-885-2324
- Any questions dealing with the school system's financial forecast, current tax rate, bond, or indebtedness
VOCATIONAL EDUCATION 440-885-8310
- Questions dealing specifically with the vocational education program and its curriculum offerings. Questions dealing with system-wide policy or issues that have not been solved on the building or administrative level should be directed to the Superintendent's Office. Contact the Director of Career and Technical Education at 440-885-8317.
Our Teachers
The average experience is 16 years; 60% of the teaching staff have a Masters Degree or higher. Textbook authors, doctorates, nationally known speakers, and recognized experts in their fields are among the district's teachers and administrators. A blend of experienced mature staff with many new teachers offer students of the Parma City School District one of the best faculties in the area.
Programs of Special Interest
Day Care Center (Fee Required)
This center, located at Normandy High School, provides care for children, ages 6 weeks to 5 years of age, and is open to employees and the general public. It is open to all regularly scheduled school days from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. For fees and additional information, call 440-885-2409. This program is self-funded and is not an expense to the district's general fund.
Extended Day Care (Fee Required)
Extended Day Care is available to parents of kindergarten through sixth grade students at 13 elementary school buildings and provides activities from 7:00 a.m. until the start of the normal school day, and from the close of the school day until 6:00 p.m. For fees and program locations, call 440-885-8309. This program is self-funded and is not an expense to the district's general fund.
Apprenticeship Programs (Fee and Employer Request Required)
As a service to employers of area industries and their employees, the Parma Community Education Department conducts related theory classes for apprentices in the following trades: industrial electricity, tool & die making, plumbing, pipe fitting, millwright, machinist, tool making, sheet metal working, and welding.
PTA
The Parma City School District boasts over 5,470 parents, teachers, and administrators as members of the district's 24 PTA units. The PTA works with the school system on a wide variety of programs including raising over $68,000 in scholarships that are awarded each year to graduating seniors in the district. Contact any school office for PTA membership information.
Able Learner Program (ALP)
- Serving the academically gifted student in grades 3-6
- Resource Room located at Parma Senior High School
- Students transported by school bus from their home school
- Students attend one day each week
- Students served by teachers with gifted validations and/or course work in gifted education
The philosophy of the Parma City School District is to provide an education which fosters intellectual and social development by teaching the essential academic disciplines and attitudes which will enable students to live and work successfully. In line with this position, it is, therefore, necessary to provide appropriate educational experiences for our students who can be denominated as gifted and/or talented so that they may develop their gifts and/or talents.
Educational opportunities for the gifted and/or talented should include both horizontal and vertical experiences within heterogeneous and homogeneous groupings. The major curricular emphasis will be the development of thinking competencies and skills that will help students identify, value, and develop their specific abilities and/or talents.
We believe that gifted students should have an opportunity to interact with others of similar talents and/or abilities as well as their chronological peers and to develop positive personal qualities and attitudes which help them to adjust socially for a happy productive life.
Program Goals
- The student will expand his/her ability to think critically.
- The student will develop divergent thinking skills.
- The student will cultivate problem-solving strategies.
- The student will expand his/her ability to reason logically.
- The student will be introduced to, will practice the use of, and when applicable, utilize with real problems, creative problem solving processes.
- The student will develop the ability to relate to him/herself and to others.
- The student will develop requisite skills necessary to complete an independent project and become a self-directed investigator.
- The student will expand his/her computer skills.
To contact a teacher at the center, call 440-885-2490
Vocational Education
One and two year vocational courses are available in a variety of areas including the Trade and Industrial field, Medical, Automotive, Communications, Cosmetology, Business, and Sales and Service. Over 90% of Vocational students work in a related career after graduation.
College Bound
The college preparatory program offers academically challenging courses for students planning to attend college. The course of study provides unrestricted admittance to a college of the student's choice. The Parma City School District's recent graduates received over 2 million dollars in college scholarships each year. The district offers honors courses in English, foreign languages, mathematics, science, and social studies.
Special Education
City School District provides education to all children with diversified needs.
- Multi-Handicapped (MH) - For a child with moderate, severe or profound developmental handicaps with accompanying deficits in communication, socialization, or adaptive behavior (ability to cope with natural and social demands of the environment).
- Visually Impaired (VI) - For a child with a visual impairment which, even with correction (20/72 or poorer in the better eye), adversely affects educational performance; both partially sighted and blind children are served.
- Orthopedically Handicapped (OH) / Other Health Impaired (OH) - For a child with a severe orthopedic impairment or health condition (caused by congenital factors, trauma, or disease) which adversely affects educational performance.
- Speech / Language Handicapped (SL) - A child with a communication disorder such as stuttering, impaired articulation, a language impairment, or a voice impairment, which affects a child's educational performance.
- Severe Behavior Handicapped (SBH) - For a child exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics; inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers; inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances; a general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression. These characteristics must be exhibited over a long period of time and to a degree that adversely affects educational performance.
- Developmentally Handicapped (DH) - For a child with significant deficits in general intellectual functioning existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior (ability to cope with natural and social demands of the environment) that adversely affect educational performance.
- Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) - For a child with a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which any manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, write, spell or do mathematical calculations.
A Final Word
No Web site can duplicate the experience of actually visiting a school building, seeing the facilities first-hand, and watching the teachers "teach" and the students "learn." Therefore, we invite you to visit our buildings if you would like to "learn" more about the Parma City School District. Our buildings are open for visits during the regular school day and arrangements can be made by calling the building principal.
