The Pattonville High School student news website PattonvilleTODAY.com has been recognized as a Distinguished Site by School Newspapers Online (SNO) for the second straight year. Only 61 schools have earned Distinguished Sites recognition this year out of 532 participating schools.

The SNO Distinguished Sites recognition program gives news staffs six standards that will help their publications excel online. If a site earns all six badges during the application period, it will be awarded the honor of being a SNO Distinguished Site for the calendar year. 

To achieve this award, the newspaper must earn each of the six badges: Multimedia, Audience Engagement, Continuous Coverage, Story Page Excellence, Site Excellence and Best of SNO.

One of the badges recognizes excellence in journalistic writing. PattonvilleTODAY had three different stories selected for the Best of SNO this year. 

The Pirate Spiel S2, E5: Fighting the Stigma of the Disorder by sophomore Abigail Evers

Did the Pandemic Change Teaching Forever? by junior Rebecca Simpkins

Stepping Away from the Ville: Pecoraro Retires by junior Matthew Jacobi

Earlier this year, the Pattonville High School journalism staff earned a First Class honor rating in the National Scholastic Press Association annual critique of its online edition. 

The Pirate Press and PattonvilleTODAY.com editors-in-chief are juniors Ava Hooper Bearskin and Matthew Jacobi. Additional editors are Elise Banks, Peyton Gregory, Christian Movick, Katie Ridings, Mackenzie Rosenthal, Bailey Shields and Rebecca Simpkins. Staff members are Abigail Evers, Hayden Gust, Lilyanna Normal and Jaida Phillips. The Pattonville High School journalism adviser is Dr. Anne Boyd.