PARMA CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT OVERVIEW
Location
Welcome to the Parma City School District. The district is composed of the cities of Parma, (population 85,000), Parma Heights (population 21,400), and Seven Hills (population 13,000). The district is located in the southwestern section of Cuyahoga County. The city of Parma shares its northern border with the city of Cleveland.
Demographics
The district is a tapestry of diversity in religions, housing, income and professions. The northern section of the district has some of the most affordable housing in Cuyahoga County. Small bungalows and colonials in this area sell for between $120,000 and $150,000. The southern section of the district has some new housing and property values range from $200,000 to $500,000. The city of Seven Hills has the highest median income of the three communities and has an array of housing. Some homes in Seven Hills are valued in excess of one million dollars.
The three largest employers in the district are the General Motors Chevrolet/Pontiac Division plant on Brookpark Road, Parma Community General Hospital and the school district. Median income levels in the three cities vary from the low $40’s (Parma Heights) to over $60,000 (Seven Hills). Residents work in nearly every conceivable profession including manufacturing, medical and the service industry.
History
The Parma City School District traces its existence back to 1853 with a major growth spurt that began in the mid fifties and continued into the early seventies. A housing boom in Parma resulted in a population of 105,000 in the 1980 census. Parma was one of the fastest growing cities in the country at that time. During this period the school district grew to over 26,000 student housed in 31 school buildings.
Parma’s downtown area originally was at Ridge and Snow, but by the sixties it had moved south to Ridge and Ridgewood Drive. Currently the Parmatown Mall and Strip, City Hall, Parma Community Hospital, the city’s 18-hole golf course and a number of other institutions surround this area of Parma.
Parma Heights retail area is along Pearl Road, which runs from North to South through the community. The city hall, library, Community Theater, pool and other amenities are centered in the area just North of York Road off of Pearl.
Seven Hills has seen a rash of recent development including a state of the art recreation center, a new fire station and retail development along Broadview Road. Seven Hills is anticipating a major commercial and housing development along Rockside Road to begin construction in the near future.
The district today has a total population of nearly 120,000 people, and the school district’s enrollment has been stable at 13,000 students for the past decade.
The school district and the three cities work in close partnership on a number of projects to improve the education of children, and the quality of life for residents.
Why We Are Unique
Today a combination of three things makes the Parma City School District unique in Northeastern Ohio.
- Neighborhood Schools…. While many districts in our area have gone to specialty schools serving particular grade levels. The Parma City School District continues to maintain fifteen K-6 buildings. The elementary buildings are divided into three clusters with a middle school and high school. In most cases children can walk to their elementary school.
- The second way in which our district is different from most is that we provide a complete educational package. Our high schools are “comprehensive” meaning they not only offer college bound courses, but also house Career Education courses including Cisco Networking, Medical and Dental Assisting, Visual Communications, Radio and Television Production and Carpentry.
We also house nearly all of our special education students. We offer programs for the visually handicapped, hearing impaired, orthopedically handicapped along with a full compliment of other special educational programs. Special Education students are mainstreamed whenever possible, and frequently can attend schools with children from their neighborhood.
- We combine big with small. Because we are a large district we are able to provide services smaller districts may not be able to sustain. We operate our own in-plant printing and reproduction center which supplies 99% of all forms and printed materials used by the district. We operate a television channel that offers time and services to our three cities, our community hospital, area libraries and the local campus of the community college. While these services are possible because of our size, we work at making education a one-on-one experience. At the middle schools children are divided into “houses.” Children in a specific house have the same teachers for all of their major subjects, and these teachers have the opportunity to meet together to offer a student a unified plan for assistance when necessary. At all levels we attempt to treat each student individually, and to provide an educational program that fits the child’s needs. Since we are large and comprehensive we have the flexibility to create tailored me educational programs for many of our children.
More Services
The district operates a day-care center for employees and parents at Normandy High School, and extended day care before and after school at many of our elementary schools.
In addition to the school buildings the district operates Byers Field, the second largest stadium in the county, and a Transportation Center on Day Drive in Parma’s commercial district. The district also operates Arlington Learning Center; a former elementary building that houses the system’s First Step pre-school program.
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