Student Honors

Academics

In the Class of 2026, the National Merit Scholarship Program honored 14 Pembroke Hill seniors as Semifinalists. Semifinalists represent less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors. In addition, six seniors were recognized as Commended students.

The Pembroke Hill upper and middle school Science Olympiad teams have a great legacy of competing in the national tournament. Since 2010, the upper school team has qualified for nationals in 13 of 16 years and 31 times in total. In 2024, the team secured 29th place in the tournament out of 60 schools. The Division B Science Olympiad team (Grades 6-9), has qualified for nationals 14 out of the last 17 years, including the last six consecutive seasons. Most recently, in 2026, the team finished 27th place out of 60 schools while competing at the University of Southern California.

Visual Arts

Every year, outstanding middle and upper school visual art students participate in the Scholastic Art Competition from the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers. In 2025-26, students received 17 Honorable Mentions, 13 Silver Keys, and 12 Gold Keys. Students also regularly participate in the National K-12 Ceramics Exhibition, the KCAI Pre-College ArtLab and other programs. Twenty-nine percent of AP Art History students earned perfect scores of 5 on the 2026 AP exam, and the class' average AP score was 3.9, higher than the Missouri and global averages.

Performing Arts

Our performing arts programs and students have been recognized on regional and national levels.

The upper school PHS competitive speech & debate team ended the 2025-2026 school year as MSHSAA Class 2 Debate champions and 3rd-place Speech sweepstakes team. Team members have held champion titles for MSHSAA’s United States Extemporaneous Speaking and Lincoln Douglas Debate. Participation in the University of Kentucky's Tournament of Champions (TOC), National Individual Events Tournament of Champions (NIETOC), the NCFL Grand National Tournament, and the National Speech & Debate (NSDA) National Tournament yields individual and team honors every year.

In the last five years, the PHS upper school choral program has traveled to London, New York City, Orlando and Nashville, where they have received multiple honors for their performances. In 2022, the PHS choirs participated in the National Youth Choir at Carnegie Hall. Students have earned Gold honors at multiple heritage festivals and received the “Adjudicator’s Award” for the top all-around score in 2024 in Orlando. Choral students also frequently participate in All-District choir and District and State Solo and Ensemble competitions.

Since recent participation, the Pembroke Hill theatre department has garnered five Blue Star nominations/awards for outstanding stage management, lighting, leadership and performance. Our students have been finalists and recipients of the Kansas Shooting Star Scholarship Awards, Kansas City Filmfest and International festivals, and earned a Girl Scout Gold Star award for outstanding theatrical innovation.

Athletics

Pembroke Hill and its predecessor schools, Pembroke-Country Day and Sunset Hill, have compiled 72 Missouri state championships and three regional lacrosse championships in their history, the second most in the state. Since 2010, PHS has won 16 state championships and two Kansas City metro girls lacrosse titles: Girls Tennis (2014, 2017); Boys Golf (2011, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2023); Boys Tennis (2010–2012, 2017, 2022–2024); Girls Golf (2025); Girls Soccer (2026); and Girls Lacrosse (2025-2026).

Community Service

In 2026, 56 upper school students and nine middle school students received the newly issued Pembroke Hill Volunteer Service Award for completing over 50 hours of community service in a single school year.

At A Glance