Dozens of performing arts students at Nipher, North and Kirkwood High School were selected in the St. Louis Suburban Music Educators Association All-Suburban Bands and Orchestras. Students auditioned by sending in recordings of themselves playing. St. Louis Suburban Music Educators Association announced results in mid-January. In addition, two KHS Symphonic Orchestra students were selected for the Missouri All-State Orchestra. They are Mallory Mihm, for the viola and Margaret Klein, for the violin. The performing art students are taught by: Dr. Chris Bartz, and Eric Chrostoski, Fariga Drayton-Conway, Rebecca Friesen, Matthew Banks, Jeff Panhorst, Kaela Barnett, and Alison Smith.
(KSD) is seeking feedback from the community, including families, residents, and staff, in an upcoming survey. KSD asks the community to complete the survey now, through Wednesday, January 20, 2021. kirkwoodschools.org/survey
Megan Campbell, an eighth-grade student at Nipher Middle School, and Kat Crawford, a freshman at Kirkwood High School, created an app called InBeTeen Jobs for the Congressional App Challenge. Their app was announced as the winner of Missouri’s 2nd District Congressional App Challenge. Judges of the contest, including Head Judge Everett Johnson and the LaunchCode team, awarded their app the highest possible points in concert, design, and skill. The app aims to help teens find work and volunteer opportunities. A video highlighting the app features can be found on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMOVo2rmdPM&feature=youtu.be
This week, the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) announced the All-National Honor Ensembles. Abigail was announced as a member of this ensemble for the National Association for Instrumental Music National Honor Society. She was selected to the French Horn section via a recorded audition submitted last spring. Abigail will now join the “best of the best” at the NAfME 2020 All-National Honor Ensembles (ANHE) Virtual Event January 7–8, 2021. The first-ever All-National Honor Ensembles virtual event will include several rehearsals with the 2020 ANHE Conductors and workshops with renowned clinicians. Each ensemble will create a final, recorded performance premiered online during the NAfME Music In Our Schools Month® in March 2021.
Kirkwood High School (KHS) senior Amaya Marion was announced as a recipient of a 2020 QuestBridge National College Match and will receive a full four-year scholarship to Stanford University. Amaya is known as a poetic change-seeker within the halls of KHS. She avidly studies history, civil rights, and Chinese and is leading a charge of change. She also finds time to volunteer tutor students at Robinson Elementary and seeks out other opportunities to volunteer. One of her favorite places to volunteer outside of KSD is at Christian Friends of New Americans. There, she helps teach adults English Second Language (ESL) classes and citizenship classes to adults. Her favorite thing about volunteering is the relationships she builds with people. Amaya’s proudest moment was when she received the National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) scholarship to study abroad in Xi’an, China during her sophomore year. At that time, she was in her fourth year of studying Chinese and yearned for the day she would be able to visit the country she spent so much time learning about. The program accepted 19.5% of student applicants. While in China, she learned extensively about the language and culture, but also about herself. The next year she decided that she wanted to take AP Chinese, even though KHS does not offer the class. Amaya bought a textbook and self-studied for the exam. She ended up scoring a four on the AP exam. For Amaya, her family has always instilled the importance of a hard work ethic. Growing up, her parents were business owners. Her mom baked cakes, and her dad is a car electrician. They both put in long hours to support her family while still doing what they loved the most. Her parents have instilled in her that happiness and success are intertwined. Amaya knows that through finding happiness, you can achieve success in what you hope to gain from life. Amaya also has a brother named Evan, who attends Nipher Middle School in KSD.
At its meeting on November 30, the Kirkwood School District Board of Education call for the annual school board of election to be held on April 6, 2021. Two positions for director of the Kirkwood Board of Education will be decided. The two board members whose terms expire in 2021 are Jean Marie Andrews and Angie Bernardi. The opening date for filing for the April 6, 2021 Annual School Election is Tuesday, December 15, 2020 from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm. The closing date for filing for the April 6th election is Tuesday, January 19, 2021 from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. School is closed for winter break from December 23, 2020 through January 4, 2021; in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on January 18, 2021; and may also be closed due to inclement weather. Due to COVID-19, except for opening day on December 15, 2020 and closing day, January 19, 2021, all other filing dates will be by appointment only. You can set up an appointment by calling 314-213-6101. Persons interested in filing for those positions may do so in the Office of the Superintendent at the Administrative Services Center, 11289 Manchester Road. According to Missouri law, section 115.124, if the number of candidates who have filed for the office is equal to the number of positions in that office to be filled by the election, no election shall be held for such office and the candidates shall assume the responsibilities of their offices at the same time and in the same manner as if they had been elected.
Webster Groves and Kirkwood High Schools have jointly made the difficult decision to end our 2020 football seasons as of today, November 13, 2020. The decision was made in response to an increasing number of concerns related to COVID-19 cases and quarantines which have limited the ability of both programs to have consistent practices over the last few weeks which as a result could lead to an increased number of more traditional safety concerns associated with playing football. This decision means that the annual Turkey Day football game between the two schools will not be played this year.
After careful consideration, KSD extended online learning for all Robinson Elementary School students until Monday, November 23. This decision is based on additional information we received today regarding instructional staff quarantines, which increases the percentage of instructional staff in quarantine to 31 percent.
Kirkwood High School teachers Amy Barker, Donna Canan, and Katie Meyers are three of thousands of teachers across the United States to renew their certification as a National Board Certified Teacher (NBCT). The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards is excited to celebrate these teachers along with the more than 20,000 teachers currently pursuing Board certification – seen as the profession’s mark of accomplished teaching. The renewal process involved nearly a year's long process of documenting evidence of accomplished teaching practices in writing and in video submissions. “Congratulations to the newly renewed National Board Certified Teachers from the Kirkwood School District,” said Dr. David Ulrich. “These teachers met high standards through study, expert evaluation, self-assessment, and peer review to the benefit of our KSD students. Well done!”
Kirkwood School District is taking every precaution and implementing two days of virtual instruction for all Kirkwood students following the Thanksgiving holiday. These two days of virtual engagement for students participating in in-person learning will allow for extra days of isolation before students return to school on Wednesday, December 2. November 2020 School Engagement Calendar and Changes • Monday, November 23 and Tuesday, November 24 • In-person and At-Home learning for all students grades K-12 • Wednesday, November 25 • NO SCHOOL - For Students • Thursday, Nov 26 and 27 • Schools and District Closed • Monday, November 30 and Tuesday, December 1 • All K-12 Students In-Person Learning will engage in synchronous (virtual) learning. School principals will provide additional details. • K-5 At-Home Learning and 6-12 Virtual Learning Schedule does not change.
During a special board meeting on Monday, October 12, the Kirkwood School District Board of Education approved the in-person learning plan option. Much like the elementary model, middle schools will have two pause days to allow schools and staff time to prepare for the transition. Then, 6th grade students will arrive on campus a few days before 7th and 8th-grade students.
KSD Board votes to give elementary parents and guardians the choice for their students to either return to in-person learning or remain online learning with a Kirkwood teacher for the remainder of the first semester.
In recognition of her dedication to education and leadership in the classroom and the community, Romona Miller has been selected to receive a 2020 Excellence in Education Award at the St. Louis American Foundation's 33rd Annual Salute to Excellence in Education Scholarship & Awards Virtual Gala. Recognition of outstanding educators is a longstanding component of the foundation’s mission, and with mindfulness of the ongoing pandemic crisis, we believe this recognition of the invaluable contributions of our educators is more important than ever.
KHS seniors Sabrina Baggstrom, Lillian Bartin, Jonathan Henry, Zoe Krug, Rayhana Niyogi, Jonathan Plants, and Daniel Tobias were named in the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program. They are among some 16,000 Semifinalists announced nationwide and representing less than one percent of high school seniors in the U.S. Over 1.5 million students were entered into the competition as juniors by taking the 2019 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Semifinalists were the highest-scoring entrants in each state, and the number chosen from each state is proportional to its share of graduating seniors in the U.S.
