In this section

KC Education

School Districts by County

Top Performing School Districts

Private Schools

Childcare

Top Performing School Districts

Missouri

Belton School District

• Enrollment: 4,743
• Schools: 11
• Highlights: Belton’s test scores are on the rise. The district just completed its sixth consecutive year in which test scores improved. ACT test scores were listed in the top 10 among school districts in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

Blue Springs School District

• Enrollment: 13,904
• Schools: 22
• Highlights: For the fifth year in a row, the Blue Springs School District has received a perfect score on the Annual Performance Report from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. It is one of only eight districts in the state to receive a perfect score for five consecutive years. More than 62 percent of the district’s 1000-plus certified staff hold advanced degrees. The district recently put into operation a multi-million dollar student management computer system that allows students and parents to check attendance and grades online, as well as pay for lunches.

Center School District

• Enrollment: 2,282
• Schools: 8
• Highlights: Although the district is located in south Kansas City, Mo., its student population of 2,500 and the small class sizes provide an urban environment with many of the advantages of a small community. The updated classrooms in the district all include Smart Board technology. Students tailor their academic experience with college prep, advanced placement, college credit and vocational-technical courses. Center offers more then 30 extracurricular and co-curricular activities.

Fort Osage R-1 School District

• Enrollment: 4,742
• Schools: 12
• Highlights: The district is the central focus of a unique rural/urban community rooted in history and tradition. The Career and Technical Center is an integral part of the district, and the high school participates in the A+ program that affords all students the opportunity to attend college.

Grandview School District

• Enrollment: 3,737
• Schools: 9
• Highlights: Earned “Distinction of Performance” from the State of Missouri two of the last four years. The district boasts international honors in instrumental music and debate. Its students consistently receive honors at the Kansas City Science fair; all-conference, all-metro and all-state athletics; vocal music; theater; journalism; and visual arts. The community consistently supports bond and levy issues for the school district.

Hickman Mills School District

• Enrollment: 6,131
• Schools: 18
• Highlights: Hickman Mills and Ruskin high schools have been designated A+  Schools, where qualified graduates are eligible to receive college tuition assistance, books and fees to attend any public community college, vocational or technical school in the state of Missouri for two years. The residents of the community have always strongly supported their schools. Working together with people of diverse backgrounds through various groups and organizations, the school district has been responsive to community needs.

Independence School District

• Enrollment: 13,671
• Schools: 27
• Highlights: The American Association of School Administrators and Sodexho USA honored the district with the state 2006 National Civic Star award. The district is one of 30 school districts across the nation selected for this award, which recognizes that important contributions can be realized when a district and community work together. Due to approved bonds and levies, the district’s teachers are among the most well-paid in the Kansas City area. Each elementary school offers a Child and Family learning center, which provides early education for three- to five-year-olds and before- and after-school care for school-aged children. Both district high schools have brand new media centers, and the middle school campus features a high tech science center.

Kansas City Public Schools

• Enrollment: 15,826
• Schools: 58
• Highlights: Features comprehensive community schools that teach a basic core curriculum. The district also offers early childhood programs, before- and after-school programs and all-day kindergarten. Recognized as the most valuable asset of the community, the district delivers quality education and thrives on diversity.

Kansas City Charter Schools

• Enrollment: About 8,522
• Schools: 27
• Highlights: Charter schools receive state money but are not tied to a district and are run by individual school boards. The schools are sponsored by Central Missouri State University or the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Many have themes ranging from traditional to alternative education. Example: Academy Lafayette is a foreign language school with a mission to produce students who at the end of eighth grade are fluent in French and English and who are ready for the best preparatory high school curriculum available.

Lee’s Summit School District

• Enrollment: 17,524
• Schools: 27
• Highlights: Students consistently score well above state and national norms on all tests including the Stanford Achievement Test, the Missouri Assessment Program and the ACT. Also among just six metropolitan-area districts earning Missouri’s Distinction in Performance Award in 2006. Other honors include the first-ever Governor’s Choice Award and “What Parents Want” award from SchoolMatch.

Liberty School District

• Enrollment: 10,683
• Schools: 18
• Highlights: Named a “High Performing School District” by the state of Missouri for the past two years, the highest accreditation ranking in the state. Liberty students consistently score above state and national norms on standardized tests. In 2004, the district was awarded the National Salute District for Technology Program, as a result of implementing initiatives that directly affect how students use technology to improve learning. Also has its own public cable channel that serves all Liberty district homes. About 48 percent of classroom teachers have a master’s degree or above.

North Kansas City School District

• Enrollment: 18,530
• Schools: 32
• Highlights: Set high expectations for students to accept the challenges of rigorous course work and performance assessments, earn college credit as juniors and seniors in high school, take advanced placement courses and exams earning advanced standing in colleges and universities, develop a portfolio, experience an internship, develop a senior exhibition and perform community service. Wireless networks and online courses are available. Parents are able to pay for food services and check students’ grades online. The IT Academy is a two-year program in which high school students can earn their networking and programming certification.

Park Hill School District

• Enrollment: 10,198
• Schools: 16
• Highlights: The district’s composite ACT score rose to 23.6 fro the 2006-2007 school year, compared to the state average of 21.6. Students also increased their scores in every category of the exam. The district has been accredited with distinction in student performance by the state of Missouri for the past four years. Students start using technology in Kindergarten through weekly computer lab rotation with their teacher that continues through fifth grade. More structured middle school courses are required for grades 6-8 and upper-level technology courses are available to high school students.

Raytown School District

• Enrollment: Over 8,537
• Schools: 19
• Highlights: Missouri Assessment Program test scores show in increase in student achievement. Raytown officials are pleased with a second year of marked improvement in student achievement on standardized tests.

Kansas

Blue Valley School District

• Enrollment: 21,781
• Schools: 32
• Highlights: Eleven teachers have received the Kansas Master Teacher Award, and 25 high school seniors have been named 2006 National Merit finalists. The district’s average ACT composite score in 23.9, and the average SAT composite is 1758. Eleven schools have received the prestigious Blue Ribbon Award. In 2000, the district received the Multicultural Education Award. Seventy-eight percent of the district’s faculty have a master’s degree or higher.

Gardner-Edgerton USD 231 School District

• Enrollment: 5,243
• Schools: 9
• Highlights: Home to the 2005 Kansas U.S. History Teacher of the Year, a Middle School Principal of the Year, Area I Assistant Principal of the Year, Middle School Athletic Director of the Year, Middle School Coach of the Year, School Psychologist of the Year, along with four other Horizon award-winning first-year teachers, and the Kansas Boys’ Cross Country Coach of the Year. Achieved the State Standard of Excellence in math, reading, social studies and science.

Kansas City School District

• Enrollment: 20,476
• Schools: 44
• Highlights: In 2006 the district won a U.S. Department of Education Library grant for close to $300,000, to fund a project titled “Zap the Gap: Read to Succeed.” The goal is to increase reading achievement by empowering them to choose their own reading materials, increasing recreational reading, eliminating the “summer slump” and bringing back the love of reading to young people.

Olathe School District

• Enrollment: 27,673
• Schools: 46
• Highlights: Olathe’s student-teacher ratio is 16.5:1, the lowest in Kansas among large districts. Student test scores rank in the top 10 percent in the nation, and 65 percent of teaching staff have master’s degrees or higher. Unique high school programs including aerospace and engineering, biotechnology/life sciences, e-communication and geosciences are offered. In 2006, the district was chosen as one of the 100 Best Communities for Music Education by the Music Teachers National Association. The district has received 15 Presidential Awards for excellence in math and science teaching.

Shawnee Mission School District

• Enrollment: 27,770
• Schools: 47
• Highlights: Senior high school students who took the SAT during the 2005-2006 school year continue to outpace their peers at the state and national levels. The average composite score was 1790, compared to the state average of 1738 and national average of 1518. In addition to more than 50 honors and advanced placement courses, offers signature programs such as the International Baccalaureate program, Center for International Studies, Engineering Technology for Tomorrow and Healthcare Careers program.

Unified School District 232 (DeSoto, Shawnee, Lenexa, Olathe)

• Enrollment: 6,819
• Schools: 11
• Highlights: District staff has been honored and recognized by the Kansas Teacher of the Year program the past seven years – unmatched in Johnson County. The 2004 Kansas Teacher of the Year on staff, who is also the 2004 Horace Mann Award Winner – the first teacher in Kansas to win the national award. ACT test scores exceed national and state levels, and has been nationally recognized for its technology model. Students and staff have access to applications and files 24 hours a day, seven days a week.