Because the virtues are taught, modeled, and practiced by students, parents, and the entire staff, a strong sense of emotional and physical safety develops. This sense of safety allows the students to be more successful in their academic endeavors. Parent involvement also contributes to the success of our school. Our parents believe in the Valley Park philosophy and continue to show their support through involvement in PTO, membership in the Valley Park Site Based Leadership Council, participation in and organization of fund-raisers, and service as teacher assistants. This three-way partnership between staff, parents, and students is an invaluable team for success.
Community is another important factor in our students' lives.
In addition, enormous commercial growth is evident throughout our attendance area. This burgeoning area creates a unique challenge as we strive to maintain the personalized, family-centered, nurturing environment, of a small suburban elementary school. Valley Park has been recognized and has received a variety of awards for academic achievement. Our students show strong performances in all formal assessments and consistently win awards at the local, regional, and state level in a variety of areas, including Odyssey of the Mind, Kansas Association of Teachers of Mathematics Contest and various art and music competitions. One of our first major milestones was the honor of receiving the Blue Ribbon Award in the fall of 1989.