North Glendale Is Winner in Canned Food Drive With Bristol Elementary

A friendly competition between the elementary schools netted thousands of donations to KirkCare, a food pantry for residents of the Kirkwood School District.

Students at North Glendale Elementary in the Kirkwood School District and Bristol Elementary in the Webster Groves School District just completed their fifth annual canned food drive competition.  North Glendale won this year’s competition by collecting and donating 2,318 items, which will be donated to KirkCare, a food pantry for residents of the Kirkwood School District. The friendly competition began five years ago and together the schools have collected over 22,000 food items. Information provided by Kirkwood School District.

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Lawmakers See Little Hope for Education Bill

One provision of the legislation would allow accredited school districts, like Webster Groves and Kirkwood, to establish guidelines for accepting transfer students.

Area lawmakers expressed doubts that a currently stalled education reform bill will make its way out of the state legislature at a breakfast meet-and-greet hosted by the Webster Groves and Kirkwood school districts. About 45 citizens gathered to hear the legislators speak Saturday at Webster Groves High School, and most of the morning was taken up by a question-and-answer session.  At the heart of the conversation was House Bill 1740, which in its current form contains a provision that would allow accredited districts to establish guidelines for accepting transfer students from unaccredited districts. The measure is intended to address a potential influx of students from unaccredited schools, like the St. Louis Public School District, to …

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School Districts to Legislature: Save Us From Flood of Students

School officials contend a recent Missouri Supreme Court ruling could send a stream of students from unaccredited districts to their classrooms; bills in the legislature may address the issue.

Local school districts, including Webster Groves and Kirkwood, hope state lawmakers will provide a fix to a recent Missouri Supreme Court ruling that could result in a rapid influx of students from unaccredited districts transferring to neighboring districts. That possibility is the result of the court's July opinion in the Jane Turner vs. School District of Clayton case that school districts are mandated to accept any student from an unaccredited district and have no say so in the matter. There are several bills currently proposed in the General Assembly addressing the topic. In the St. Louis area, both the St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS) and Riverview Gardens School districts are unaccredited. Under current law, students from these …

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Webster Groves School Board Candidates Discuss Open Enrollment, Diversity

Four candidates vying for three open seats on the Webster Groves Board of Education gathered for a community forum at Hixson Middle School.

Candidates for the Webster Groves Board of Education gathered Wednesday evening at Hixson Middle School to discuss issues facing the district and answer residents' questions. The forum, hosted and moderated by the League of Women Voters, addressed topics including open enrollment, diversity and local control. Each of the four candidates gave a two-minute opening statement, briefly highlighting their qualifications. After the opening statements, the moderator read questions from the community members present, and gave each of the candidates one minute to answer. Several questions from the audience asked candidates to address the issue of open enrollment. All of them praised the Voluntary Interdistrict Transfer (VIT) system that Webster …

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Notable Neighbors

Kirkwood Dad is Advocate for People With Disabilities

This week Patch introduces you to Doug Riggs, a Kirkwood dad who is passionate about protecting the rights of people with disabilities.

Doug Riggs was just 10 years old when he stood up against injustice and was met with tear gas. The Kirkwood man was living in Memphis with his parents and brothers. Marching for racial and economic equality was a typical activity for the family. “What I remember most is being really scared,” Riggs said of the tear gas experience at a Martin Luther King Jr. memorial march he attended in 1969. He heard a “booming voice” come over a loudspeaker – it was the voice of civil rights leader, the Rev. James Lawson. “Everyone cover your eyes and sit down,’” Riggs remembered hearing. “It was like the voice of God, and we all covered our eyes and we all sat down and we all sang `We Shall Overcome.’” Riggs is still an advocate for justice, but today …

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Healthy Cafeteria Options Meet With Early Success in Webster Groves

The Webster Groves School Board heard presentations on the district's progress in implementing new federal nutrition standards and discussed opposition to the "Fair Tax" initiative moving through Missouri's legislature.

In December of last year, Congress passed the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act (aka Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act) that outlined new provisions for breakfast and lunch at school districts across the country to be implemented by the 2012-2013 school year. Luckily, the vast changes were foreseen by Chartwells, the food service provider for the Webster Groves School District, and the district has begun implementing the new requirements well in advance of the USDA deadline, according to a presentation to school board members at the board's regular meeting earlier this week. "We're still deep frying at the High School ... and that has to go," said Theresa Boettler, Food Service Director for the district, who was joined by Chartwells District…

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Elementary Test Scores Reveal Mixed Results

Principals from Hudson and Clark presented annual progress reports at Monday's Board of Education meeting for the Webster Groves School District.

The Webster Groves School District heard reports from Hudson and Clark elementary schools, as well as an update from the Coordinated Safety, Health and Wellness program at its meeting Monday at Hudson Elementary. Presentations by Clark Principal Bill Schiller and Hudson Principal Lisa Hilpert highlighted the schools academic success with regards to the Missouri Assessment Program (M.A.P.) test scores. Hudson saw an increase in students scoring proficient and above in the areas of math, communication arts and science. Clark's scores were less consistent. Students across the board struggled with Communication Arts in grade 4, which Schiller called "a historical pattern with the school." "We've seen a drop in comm arts for fourth graders …

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Student Wellness Coalition Responds to Alcohol Amendment

The UNITE Community Coalition requests mandatory alcohol training for gas station convenience store employees.

Though the motion by the Webster Groves City Plan Commission earlier this month to allow alcohol sales at gas station convenience stores has not yet garnered an official response from the district's board of education, the community coalition that works to prevent underage substance abuse has set a firm, yet conciliatory tone on the matter. In a letter to the members of Webster Groves' City Council, Director of Student Services and Wellness Coordinator Gayle Hennessey assures them that the "Webster Groves UNITE Community Coalition fully supports economic development here. But we would to like to suggest an amendment for the council to consider." The amendment would be to make it a requirement that employees of all stores that choose to …

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Board of Education Approves Demolition of Webster High Annex

Renovations tentatively scheduled to begin Feb. 1.

The Webster Groves School District Board of Education awarded a contract to Marschel Wrecking for building improvements to Webster Groves High School at its meeting Monday night. Renovations are tentatively scheduled to begin Feb. 1 and will include the demolition of the high school’s annex and construction of an addition to the north end of the school. The contract marks one part of Prop W, a $36-million zero-tax-increase bond approved by voters this past April. The bid came in at $122,844, well under the projected cost of $167,430, according to Webster Groves School District Chief Financial Officer Diane Moore, who presented the bid proposal to board members Monday night. The building project entails asbestos removal and demolition of …

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Webster School District Braces for Budget Cuts

As the Missouri legislature makes budget cuts its top priority, the Webster Groves School District is working to combat likely cuts in public education.

The Webster Groves School District spends approximately $11,000 on each student in a given year, according to Diane Moore, chief financial officer for the Webster Groves School District. The amount is likely to drop next year, she said. "We already get pretty minimal state funding as it is," Moore said. "Any reduction in our state funds would be harmful to us." As the Missouri legislature begins its next session amid a $500 million deficit, public education will be one of the first areas cut by the state. "Education is one of the highest funded mandates in the state, so it tends to take a beating in tough times," Moore said. The chief financial officer projects a 5 percent reduction in the budget for next year, although the number is only …

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