Park Center Senior High School
| Park Center Senior High School | |
|---|---|
|
Once a Pirate, Always a Pirate | |
| Address | |
|
7300 Brooklyn Blvd. Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, 55443 United States | |
| Coordinates | 45°5′17″N 93°20′38″W / 45.08806°N 93.34389°WCoordinates: 45°5′17″N 93°20′38″W / 45.08806°N 93.34389°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Public |
| Established | 1971 |
| Principal | John Groenke |
| Enrollment | approx. 1400 |
| Color(s) |
Green gold |
| Mascot | Blackbeard the Pirate |
| Nickname | Pirates |
| Website | School website |
Park Center Senior High School (PCSH) is a three-year public high school located in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota on 7300 Brooklyn Blvd. PCSH is located near the border of two northwest twin cities suburbs, Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center, thus the school name "Park Center" is a combination of these city names. The principal is John Groenke. Park Center Senior High's mascot is a pirate and the school's sports teams are known as the Pirates. The school's colors are pine green and gold.
School Overview
Park Center Senior High School is one of three public high schools in the Osseo Area School District 279 and one of two public high schools located in the city of Brooklyn Park. (Brooklyn Park is served by 3 school districts: Osseo 279, Anoka-Hennepin 11, Robbinsdale 281). In August 2007 Park Center became an official International Baccalaureate (IB) School. This designation as an IB World school means Park Center has joined its partner, North View Junior High as one of only 21 MYP programmes in the state of Minnesota. It is currently offering the Middle Years Programme(MYP) to tenth grade students. The school is new to the Diploma Programme with its first IB students graduating in 2009. As with North View Junior High, Park Center is a magnet program open to any student in the Northwest Suburban Integration School District (NWSISD.) Park Center is one of only 20 public schools in Minnesota that are authorized to offer the Diploma Programme. In addition to International Baccalaureate classes, Park Center also offers college-level Advanced Placement classes.
The NWSISD is a consortium of seven districts in the northwest suburban area of Minneapolis which has been formed to promote integration and eliminate racial isolation of students in these districts. By creating magnet schools in IB, math & science, and in the arts the NWSISD has begun to bring students of diverse backgrounds together in programs based on academic excellence.[1]
Park Center students represent the growing diversity of America. PC students come from about 20 different countries and speak roughly 35 different languages. Demographic information lists the student population as 34.6% Black, 35.2% Asian, 21.5% White, 8.6% Hispanic, and 0.8% are American Indian. The student body fluctuates often, but is usually around 1500 total students, making it the 3rd largest high school in the Osseo School District 279. Park Center Senior High is #1 in the state among similar schools for improving its black student graduation rate. The school has many grants from the state and government with over $200,000 per year.
Athletics & Activities
Basketball
The Pirates girls' basketball team won the 2014 MSHSL AAA state championship.[2][3]
Marching Band
The Park Center Marching Band is under the direction of Wade Schroeder from 2009–present (previously John Olson) and the band performs at a high level year-to-year. They were awarded Grand Champion at the Vikingland Band Festival (Street-Marching State Championship[4]), in 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2011, and 2012.[5]
Hockey
The Pirates girls' hockey team won the 2000 MSHSL state championship.[6]
Sports Teams and Rivalries
Park Center's traditional rivals within the Osseo School District are Osseo Senior High School (the two teams compete for the OssPar trophy in football) and Maple Grove Senior High School (the two teams compete for the Thunder Bolt trophy in football). Park Center's primary other local rival is Champlin Park High School, a District 11 (Anoka-Hennepin) school located in Brooklyn Park, adjacent to the city's border with Champlin.
Notable Alumni
- Jon Borchardt - Former starting tackle for the Buffalo Bills and Seattle Seahawks.
- David Brat - United States Congressman from Virginia's 7th district
- Tim Jackman - New York Islanders
- Tim Laudner - Former Minnesota Twins Catcher. Won the World Series with the Minnesota Twins in 1987, and was named to the All Star Team in 1988 where he hit a double in his only at bat. While he was at Park Center he played football and baseball, and lead the Pirates to the state tournament (3rd place).
- Pat Neshek - Professional Baseball Player For The St. Louis Cardinals.
- Ansu Toure - Professional soccer player (footballer), formerly of the Minnesota Thunder.
- Krissy Wendell (Pohl) - Women's Hockey Olympic Silver Medalist (Salt Lake City), Two time NCAA Champion University of Minnesota (2004 and 2005)
References
- ↑
- ↑ "State girls basketball: Park Center outlasts Marshall for 3A title". Pioneer Press. 2014-03-23. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
- ↑ "Minnesota State High School League Girls Basketball". Retrieved 10 August 2014.
- ↑ http://halftimemag.com/articles/03-2009/03-2009-features/marching-outside-the-box.html
- ↑ http://www.marching.com/events/vbf/history/scores.html
- ↑ http://www.mshsl.org/mshsl/publications/code/yearbook/HockeyGirls.pdf