Westchester Elementary School in the Kirkwood School District was filled with the buzz of bees, clucks from chickens, and laughter from the students today as the Saint Louis Zoo partnered with Westchester for an outdoor day of learning. Students spent the school day immersed in learning outdoor skills including how to read a field guide and draw a map, harvesting vegetables from the Westchester garden, and learning how to properly use binoculars and other scientific tools.
The Glendale-Kirkwood Kiwanis Club presented each of the kindergarten students in the Kirkwood School District (KSD) with an early reader book as part of the service club’s Early Reader Program.
On Monday, May 13, representatives from Oasis held a recognition ceremony to honor Dr. Judy Kamper for 30 years of service as the District Facilitator for the Oasis Intergenerational Tutoring program in the Kirkwood School District (KSD).
During the Kirkwood City Council meeting on Thursday, May 2, representatives from the Kirkwood Human Rights Commission awarded Jennifer Sisul, principal at Robinson and Julie Cohen, counselor at Robinson, for the 2019 Award for excellence. Sisul and Cohen were nominated by Robinson parents Susan Mason and Dawn Buckley. The award is in recognition of the efforts at Robinson to eliminate discrimination based on gender identity. In the nomination letter, Mason and Buckley shared that “Jennifer and Julie are allies and advocates for all kids and face issues of discrimination fiercely and proactively, which is why they are each deserving of this nomination.”
Jared Goudsmit (senior at Kirkwood High School) and Kyra Gousmit (8th grade student at Nipher Middle School) were announced as two of 12 playwriters from across the country to be featured in the 27th annual The Blank Theatre Young Playwrights Festival (YPF) in Hollywood, CA.
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)-Missouri Gateway Chapter challenged public and private schools within the chapter’s territory (Missouri and Southern Illinois) to devise and implement, with the help of Green Mentors, the most creative, effective and no or low-cost sustainable practices for their schools. This year, over 3,000 students and 180 faculty and staff were directly involved in this year’s Green Schools Quest projects. The Kirkwood School District (KSD) had six schools participate: Kirkwood Early Childhood Center, Keysor Elementary School, Westchester Elementary School, Nipher Middle School, North Middle School and Kirkwood High School. The projects were judged and winners were announced at the 12th Annual Green School Event at the Missouri History Museum. KECC was announced as the winner of the elementary school category and Kirkwood High School was announced as the winner of the high school category. Nipher Middle School and North Kirkwood Middle School tied for the middle school category.
The Kirkwood School District honored employees retiring and recognized those with 25 years of service in education at the annual retirement and recognition reception on May 1 in the Walker Commons at Kirkwood High School.
During a ceremony on Thursday, April 25, Kirkwood High School recognized 76 senior students who will receive 50% or more of their collegiate tuition paid for by scholarships.
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.
