This morning, Kirkwood School District administration celebrated key volunteers in honor of National Volunteer Week. National Volunteer Week is an opportunity for school Districts to shine a light on the important work that volunteers do every day for our schools and students.
The Kirkwood High School French Department has instituted a unique exchange program called FRAME (FRench-AMerican Exchange) with Notre Dame de Bellegarde high school in Lyon, France. The schools are established “sister schools.” On April 4, KHS French students welcomed 20 students from their sister school. Over the past two weeks, the students have been immersed in the culture of KHS, and the St. Louis community overall. Highlights from the week include attending in KHS classes, and field trips to the City Museum and the Challenger Center. On Sunday, April 14, the host families and students bid au revoir during the farewell reception. The KHS students will now travel to Lyon, France the morning of May 29.
On Friday, April 12, students at Nipher Middle School in the Kirkwood School District celebrated Best Buddies International with an inaugural Buddy Walk. Students took part in various outside activities including flag football, walking the track, and singing karaoke. The event was planned by Nipher students in the Best Buddies club: Fielding King, Sydney Sharp, Reagan Dolan and Kaitlyn Glasgow. The group is sponsored by teacher Holly Wolf. The group was founded to encourage inclusivity and friendship amongst all students.
North Kirkwood Middle School (NKMS) has a school-wide focus on service learning. Teachers and students are challenged to lean in to an issue or initiative to foster change. The groups meet on a near monthly basis, and quarterly service-learning days are planned. One group at NKMS sought change with literacy awareness. Sixth grade students in the “Plant a Library” group learned that not every school in the St. Louis area had the resources for a comprehensive and diverse library collection. The students, led by teachers Karen Ambuehl and Jen Siegel, decided the goal of the group was to: "Help us pass on the seeds of literacy and watch the love of reading grow!"
Kaityln Emerson, a 7th grade student at NKMS, was selected as a “Super Citizen”. She demonstrates the attributes needed to be an outstanding leader while representing NKMS and was worthy of the recognition as a Super Citizen.
Congratulations to all the participants in the 2019 KSD STEAMFest competition. The results are in, and dozens of KSD students are now eligible to compete at the Academy of Science-St. Louis Science Fair this May. For more photos and a complete list of participants, please visit the KSD STEAMFest website.
Dr. Denise Ford, SOAR gifted specialist and social studies teacher at North Kirkwood Middle School, as Kirkwood School District Teacher of the Year for 2019-20.
Over 100 KSD elementary students competed in the inaugural Battle of the Books competition on Wednesday at Robinson Elementary.
The Kirkwood School District (KSD) celebrated the work of athletes, coaches and community members both on and off the playing field, pool, mats and court February 8 and 9 during a full weekend of events to celebrate the KHS Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2019.
Nipher Middle School science students performed at the inaugural “YO! STEAMaster Competition.” As an acronym, STEAMaster has a dual meaning. STEAM represents science, technology, engineering, art and math, while Master represents the emphasis for students to demonstrate mastery of STEAM content. The STEAMaster Competition was an opportunity for students to demonstrate their brilliance as science students by communicating their understanding of ecology in the form of a rap or poem.
Congratulations to these outstanding Kirkwood Teachers of the Year, who were selected by their school colleagues to represent the many outstanding Kirkwood teachers and staff members in 2019-20: KECC-Penny Chastain; Keysor-Molly Brockmeyer; North Glendale-Lori Wehrman; Robinson-Shannon Appelbaum; Tillman-Molly Boesch; Westchester-Chelsea Witwer; Nipher-Luis Actis; North Kirkwood Middle-Denise Ford; and KHS-Mitch Eden.
Kirkwood High School seniors Charles Birmingham, Elias Boshara, Kenan Dogan, Jared Goudsmit, Emma Harrell, Nolan Hauck, Meredith Lang, Hannah Mitchell, Casey Nash and Sarah Vreeland were named National Merit Finalists in the 2019 National Merit Scholarship program (NMSC).
Kirkwood High School recognized 17 student athletes continuing their academic and athletic careers at the collegiate level.
Emily Werner, math teacher at Kirkwood High School in the Kirkwood School District, earned her National Board Certification (NBC). She earned her NBC in “Mathematics/Adolescence and Young Adulthood.”
On Monday, February 11, the Kirkwood School District Board of Education approved the appointment of Dr. Alyssa Taylor as principal of Keysor Elementary School and the appointment of Dr. Matt Bailey as assistant superintendent of data, intervention and supports.
