St. Louis Community College–Forest Park (also known as STLCC-Forest Park, and Forest Park) is a public

community college A community college is a type of undergraduate higher education institution, generally leading to an associate degree, certificate, or diploma. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an open enr ...

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

. It is one of the four schools of the St. Louis Community College System and is one of nine community colleges in

Greater St. Louis Greater St. Louis is the 23rd-largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the United States, the largest in Missouri, and the second-largest in Illinois. Its core city—St. Louis, Missouri—sits in the geographic center of the metro area, ...

. Over 8,200 students attend Forest Park, making it the second largest community college in Missouri.

History

Before Forest Park existed, its campus had been the site of an

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...

known as

Forest Park Highlands Forest Park Highlands was an American amusement park in St. Louis, Missouri. It operated from 1896 to 1963. Forest Park Highlands opened in 1896 as a beer garden. Sophie Tucker, John Philip Sousa, and Jack Dempsey appeared there. It featured ...

. The park opened in the late 19th century, and was destroyed in July 1963 by a major fire that started at one of the park's restaurants. Two years after a $47.2 million bond was approved to pay for its construction as part of the new Junior College District (JCD), classes began at Forest Park Community College in 1967. In 1976, the JCD changed the school's name to St. Louis Community College–Forest Park. In 1999, the Jack E. Miller Hospitality Studies Center opened at Forest Park, with "state-of-the-art facilities for culinary arts." On September 24, 2009, a suspicious package was found in a men's restroom in the D Building. It was removed by the

St. Louis Police Department The Metropolitan Police Department – City of St. Louis (also known as the SLMPD or St. Louis Police) is the primary law enforcement agency for the city of St. Louis, Missouri. According to the Mapping Police Violence dataset, SLMPD has the ...

Bomb and Arson Squad. The next day, the police announced that the package had contained a live bomb and would have caused "moderate to heavy damage" if it had exploded. The campus is home to the Mildred E. Bastian Center for the Performance Arts, although it has been closed since 2023.

Campus

Forest Park is an urban campus, located next to

I-64 Interstate 64 (I-64) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States. Its western terminus is at I-70, U.S. Route 40 (US 40), and US 61 in Wentzville, Missouri. Its eastern terminus is at the Bowers Hill ...

U.S. Route 40 U.S. Route 40 or U.S. Highway 40 (US 40), also known as the Main Street of America (a nickname shared with U.S. Route 66), is a major east–west United States Highway traveling across the United States from the Mountain States to the Mid- ...

in the Forest Park area of St. Louis. The campus is close to two MetroLink Light rail stations at Forest Park-DeBaliviere and

Central West End The Central West End is a Neighborhoods of St. Louis, Missouri, neighborhood in St. Louis, Missouri, stretching from Midtown St. Louis, Midtown's western edge to Union Boulevard and bordering on Forest Park (St. Louis), Forest Park with its array ...

Programs

Forest Park is known for its allied health care education. Associate in Applied Science Degrees offered include: Nursing, Radiologic Technology, Dental Hygiene, Dental Assisting, Respiratory Therapy

Polysomnography Polysomnography (PSG) is a multi-parameter type of sleep study and a diagnostic tool in sleep medicine. The test result is called a polysomnogram, also abbreviated PSG. The name is derived from Greek and Latin roots: the Greek πολύς ('' ...

, and Clinical Laboratory Technology. The college offers a number of construction-related degrees in Automotive Technology, Building Inspection & Code Enforcement Technology, Plumbing Design Engineering Technology, and Fire Protection Technology. The Jack Miller Hospitality Studies Program prepares students for the hospitality industry, including programs in Culinary Arts, Baking and Pastry Arts and Hotel Management. Practical culinary courses include intense studies in the process of making chocolate. Class A and Class B

commercial driver's license A commercial driver's license (CDL) is a driver's license required in the United States to operate large and heavy vehicles (including trucks, buses, and trailers) or a vehicle of any size that transports hazardous materials or more than 15 ...

(CDL) courses are offered, with driver training facilities on campus. An associate degree program in Funeral Services is offered.

Athletics

St. Louis Community College operates as a single entity in athletic competition; Forest Park students are permitted to participate if eligible. The school's teams compete in the

National Junior College Athletic Association The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) is the governing association of community college, state college, and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions across 24 states ...

(NJCAA) as part of the

Missouri Community College Athletic Conference The Missouri Community College Athletic Conference (MCCAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) within its Region 16. The MCCAC is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Member ...

. Forest Park serves as home court for both men and women's basketball teams. St. Louis Community College teams are known as the Archers. Prior to St. Louis Community College consolidating athletic programs under one banner, Forest Park athletic teams were known as the Highlanders.

Notable people

Alumni

Ovie Carter Ovie Carter (born March 11, 1946) was an American photographer for the ''Chicago Tribune'' from 1969 to 2004. He won the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting for his coverage of famine in Africa and India together with a reporter William M ...

, photographer * Dorathea Davis, former member of the

Missouri House of Representatives The Missouri House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 163 members, representing districts with an average size of 37,000 residents. House members are elected for two-year terms during general elections ...

Daniel Isom Daniel Isom was appointed St. Louis' 33rd Police Commissioner on October 6, 2008, and was St. Louis' third African-American police chief. Isom took a leave of absence as the executive director of the Regional Justice Information Service, most com ...

, former commissioner of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department *

Dennis Jenkerson Dennis M. Jenkerson was appointed as the 10th Fire Commissioner of the St. Louis Fire Department on November 19, 2007, by Former Mayor Francis Slay. A third generation St. Louis firefighter, he has thirty-nine years of operational and tactic ...

. commissioner of the

St. Louis Fire Department The St. Louis Fire Department (STLFD or STL City Fire) provides emergency medical services, fire cause determination, fire prevention, fire suppression, hazardous materials mitigation, and rescue services to the city of St. Louis, Missouri. T ...

* Terry Kennedy, former clerk of the

St. Louis Board of Aldermen The St. Louis Board of Aldermen is the lawmaking body of St. Louis, an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. The Board consists of 14 alderpersons, one elected by each of the city's 14 wards. The President of the Board is a separate po ...

Christina Machamer Christina Machamer (born March 13, 1982) is an American chef who won in the fourth season of Fox Network's reality cooking show ''Hell's Kitchen''.

, chef *

Josh Outman Joshua Stephen Outman (born September 14, 1984) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics (2008-2009, 2011), Colorado Rockies (2012-2013), Cleveland Indians (2014), a ...

, former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

player. *

Bruce Sassmann Bruce Sassmann (born August 11, 1950) is an American politician and businessman serving as a member of the Missouri House of Representatives from the 62nd district. Elected in November 2020, he assumed office on January 6, 2021. Redistricting in ...

, former member of the

Faculty

Ethel Sawyer Adolphe Ethel Sawyer Adolphe is a civil rights activist and sociology professor. She is known for her role in the Sit-in movement and contributions to the Sociology of Black Americans. Tougaloo Nine On March 27, 1961, Ethel Sawyer was arrested for part ...

, professor *

Jim Bokern Jim Bokern (born 16 April 1952) is a retired U.S. soccer forward who played three seasons in the North American Soccer League. He then went on to coach at the high school, collegiate and amateur levels. He won a high school state title, three NC ...

, soccer coach *

Leila Daw Leila Daw (born 1940) is an American installation artist and art professor; her work uses diverse materials to explore themes of cartography and feminism. Life and work Leila Daw received her Masters of Fine Arts from the St. Louis School of Fin ...

, professor * Tracy D. Hall, vice president of Academic Affairs * Darin Hendrickson, baseball coach * Jason James, assistant basketball coach * Gary Rensing, soccer coach * Norris Stevenson, track and field coach * Fredda Witherspoon, professor

References

External links

St. Louis Community College STLCC-Forest Park
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Louis Community College-Forest Park Educational institutions established in 1967

Forest Park A forest park is a park whose main theme is its forest of trees. Forest parks are found both in the mountains and in the urban environment. Examples Chile * Forest Park, Santiago China * Gongqing Forest Park, Shanghai * Mufushan National Fore ...

Two-year colleges in the United States Universities and colleges in St. Louis Universities and colleges in St. Louis County, Missouri Community colleges in Missouri