The Pembroke Hill School

From the start, Sunset Hill and Pembroke-Country Day worked cooperatively. Often, teachers taught at both schools. For generations, many Kansas City families would send their boys to Pem Day and their girls to Sunset Hill. School activities, such as plays and dances, often were combined, and Sunset Hill girls were cheerleaders for Pem Day's athletic teams. In 1963, the schools began coeducational classes in upper-level math, science, and languages.

In the early 1980s, the two schools began merger discussions, ultimately merging in 1984 to become the Pembroke Hill School. The class of 1985 elected to have separate graduation ceremonies. True coeducation began the next year. The former Sunset Hill campus became home to the primary and lower schools (then preschool through 6th grade), and the former Pem Day campus became home to the middle and upper schools (then 7th grade through 12th grade).

In 1988, Kansas City Magazine notoriously published an article titled "A High School on Easy Street", criticizing Pembroke Hill's students' allegedly "advantaged way of life."[3]

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Pembroke Hill completed a $50 million capital improvement project, which renovated both campuses. The Ward Parkway campus gained a new middle school building, Boocock Middle School (which now serves 6th-8th grades), a new upper school building, Jordan Hall, a new arts center, and a new library, the James M. Kemper, Sr. Library.

In June 2020, the school announced the beginning of their "Building Together" construction project on the Ward Parkway campus. The $52 million project is expected to be completed by the spring of 2022. The renovation will include changes to a number of areas on the Ward Parkway campus, including:[4]

• A renovated, single-level campus green
• A new dining hall
• A new athletic center featuring a competition and auxiliary gym. New bleachers and a press box will back up to the athletic center.
• An updated Hall Student Center with a larger lobby space for the performing arts.
• A new skywalk connecting the dining hall with the existing Centennial Hall.
• The removal of Pierson Gym, which will be turned into a green space on campus.

In 1997, 1998, and 1999, Pembroke Hill's boys' basketball team won the Missouri Class 2A state title. In 2000, however, in a nationally publicized scandal, the Missouri State High School Activities Association stripped Pembroke of the titles and placed the school on probation after the Kansas City Star revealed that promoter and AAU coach Myron Piggie had remitted cash payments to two of the school's star players, Kareem Rush and his brother JaRon Rush, to play on his "amateur" basketball team.[5][6][7][8][9] Piggie admitted to paying JaRon Rush $17,000 and Kareem Rush $2,300, after which the brothers "submitted false and fraudulent Student Athlete Statements to the universities where they were to play intercollegiate basketball", certifying that they had not been paid to play basketball.[9] As a result, the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of Missouri found themselves subject to NCAA penalties for awarding athletic scholarships to non-amateurs.[9] On Piggie's 2002 appeal from his prison sentence and restitution for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud, and tax evasion, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit found that Pembroke Hill had "sustained a loss of $10,733.89 in investigative costs and forfeiture of property as a result of" Piggie's conspiracy.[9]

In the Class of 2013, 29 seniors were recognized by National Merit. Of these 29, 21 or 21% of the class, are National Merit Semifinalists.[10] Eight of the students are Commended Students. This number represents the second highest percentage in Missouri.

On September 7, 2017, Dr. Steve Bellis announced that the 2018–2019 school year would be his last as Head of School. Dr. Bellis served as the Headmaster of the Ward Parkway Campus of The Pembroke Hill School for 16 years.[11] Upon his departure, Pembroke welcomed in Brad Shelley as the newest Head of School. Shelley was previously serving as associate headmaster at the McDonogh School, in Baltimore, MD.[12]

According to The Kansas City Star, students at Pembroke Hill have "faced several incidents of anti-Semitic behavior at Pembroke."[13] On the 2021 International Holocaust Remembrance Day in January, a swastika was discovered on a student's desk.[13] The symbol was accompanied by an offensive reference toward members of the school's LGBT community. The incident was covered by citywide media and contextualized by prior incidents where one student raised his arm in a Nazi salute while calling a Jewish student an offensive name, and swastikas were painted on a Jewish student's locker. Several Jewish parents spoke to The Star on the condition of anonymity, fearing reprisals against their children. Following the incident, officials initiated a hiring search for the newly created position of Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.[14]

In April 2021, months after a swastika was discovered in a classroom, school officials found "KKK" written on the side of a desk. School officials hired consulting firm Sophic Solutions to "hold community conversations, complete a diversity and equity audit, and then present recommendations."[15][16]

Tuition and fees for the 2020–21 school year range from $15,385 for students up to pre-kindergarten to $25,745 for upper school.[17] About 25 percent of students receive financial aid, totaling more than $3.7 million each year.[18]

In May 2007, the Malone Family Foundation, established by John C. Malone of Denver, Colorado, gave a $2 million grant to Pembroke's endowment, the largest single endowment gift in the school's history.[19] The gift was used to create the Malone Scholars Program to give need-based financial aid to highly qualified students who otherwise would qualify for at least 50 percent in financial aid.[19]

Pembroke Hill has a long athletic tradition.[21] Its colors are blue and red, its teams are known as the Raiders, and its mascot resembles a Viking raider. Pembroke is a member of the Missouri State High School Activities Association.

Pembroke Hill Raiders athletics logo

Pembroke offers Advanced Placement (AP) courses in all academic disciplines, and approximately 90% of its graduates have taken at least one AP Course. 85% of Pembroke's AP scores are at a 3 or higher on a 5-point scale, and most colleges will give students credit for a score of 3 or higher.[30]

• The Pembroke Hill School (Official Website)

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