Oak Park High School (Missouri)

When Oak Park High School opened in 1965, it was the only North Kansas City high school with air conditioning. It also featured a theater in the round, bookstore and four outdoor courtyards.[3]

Dr. Dan Kahler was the school's original principal. The first Oak Park students graduated in 1966. Formerly, students attended North Kansas City High School located in North Kansas City, Missouri. Before being transferred to Oak Park, these students chose the school's colors, mascot, and wrote its alma mater.[2]

Past Oak Park High School principals:

• Dr. Dan Kahler (1965-1986)
• Robert West (1986-1994)
• Benny Cain (1994-2000)
• John Krueger (2000-2006)
• Fred Skretta (2006-2011)
• Joe Hesmann (2011-2013)
• Mark Maus (2013-2016)
• Dr. Christopher Sartain (2016–Present)

In 2015 the student body elected a transgender girl as its Homecoming queen. In response to this, the Westboro Baptist Church protested the school.[4]

Oak Park was named a 2018 National Model High School by the International Center for Leadership in Education. They are one of only eight high schools in the nation to receive this distinction. Specifically, they were chosen for their high expectations for all students. Oak Park received a score of 99.6% in 2015-2016 from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education on their annual performance review.

Oak Park students chose Northmen as their mascot as the northern most high school in Kansas City at the time of the school's opening. The school's mascot was named "Norman the Northman", a lumberjack, embracing a tree theme fitting Oak Park and neighboring Oak Grove Park. The original newspaper was called "The Northman's Log" and the yearbook named the "Cambia", a reference to vascular cambium which makeup the rings of a tree that can be counted to tell its age.

Oak Park has seven state championships in wrestling, six in baseball, and three in cheerleading.[5]

The varsity football team plays its home games at the North Kansas City District Activities Complex on the Staley High School campus. Prior to that, they played at North Kansas City High School's football stadium. But in the fall of 2021, the varsity team will have its own stadium due to the passing of a $155 million bond in June 2020.[6] The concession stand will also serve nearby Oak Grove Park in Gladstone, Missouri.

Competitive teams include:

• Ryan Silvey - Missouri legislator (2012–present)
• Jessica Harp - country music recording artist, class of 2000.
• Rick Parker - retired MLB player (San Francisco Giants, Houston Astros, New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers)
• Chris Stigall - KCMO 710 radio personality, class of 1995.
• Kevin Ellis - MLS soccer player
• Jason Johnson - former Indianapolis Colts player
• Ochai Agbaji - Kansas City Jayhawks' number 30

• Oak Park High School official web site
• Oak Park High School Image Archive