Back to school Public or private, elementary or graduate level, Kansas City excels in education.

The Kansas City metro area has some of the top schools in America. The four Blue Valley high schools; Leawood, Kan.; Sumner Academy of Arts & Science, Kansas City, Kan.; and Park Hill, Kansas City, Mo., placed in Newsweek’s top 1,300 high schools in 2007. But many public and private schools offer a fine education. Here’s what you need to know to enroll in one.

Jackson County, Mo.
There are 12 school districts in Jackson County. Many of these districts maintain AAA ratings, the highest possible.

The Kansas City, MO school district
www.kcmsd.net

Lee’s Summit School District,
www.leesummit.k12.mo.us

Blue Springs School District
www.bluesprings-schools.net

Independence School District
www.indep.k12.mo.us

Other Jackson County districts include Center School District, Hickman Mills, Fort Osage, Grandview, Oak Grove, Grain Valley, Lone Jack and Raytown.

Johnson County, Kan.
Johnson County’s six school districts — Blue Valley, Shawnee Mission, Olathe, DeSoto, Gardner-Edgerton and Spring Hill — have some of the best public schools in the Midwest.

Blue Valley School District
www.bluevalleyk12.org

Shawnee Mission School District
www.smsd.org

Olathe School District
www.olathe.k12.ks.us

DeSoto School District
www.usd232.org

Gardner-Edgerton’s School District
www.usd231.com

Spring Hill School District
www.usd230.k12.ks.us

Wyandotte County, Kan.
Wyandotte County school districts include Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools; Turner School District; Bonner Springs School District; and Piper School District.

Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools
www.kckps.org

Turner Unified School District
www.turnerusd202.org

Bonner Springs/Edwardsville School District
www.usd204.k12.ks.us

Piper School District
www.piperschools.com

Clay County, Mo.
Several school districts serve Clay County, including Liberty, North Kansas City, Excelsior Springs, Kearney, Smithville and Lawson, along with Platte County R-III and Clinton County R-III.

North Kansas City School District
www.nkcsd.k12.mo.us

Liberty School District
www.liberty.k12.mo.us

Platte County, Mo.
Park Hill R-IV School District is the largest district in the county, with nearly 10,000 students being served in Kansas City, Mo. Platte County R-III School District is the second-largest, with approximately 3,000 students in Platte City. North Platte R-1 School District serves Dearborn, Mo., while West Platte R-II School District serves Weston, Mo. www.co.platte.mo.us/schools.html

Cass County, Mo
The 12 campuses of the Belton School District serve about 4,600 students. Students’ ACT scores were listed in the top 10 among other school districts in the Kansas City metropolitan area in 2006.
www.beltonschools.k12.mo.us

Several other districts serve the Cass County area, including Archie R-V, Drexel R-IV, East Lynne, Harrisonville Cass R-IV, Midway R-1, Pleasant Hill R-III, Raymore-Peculiar, Sherwood Cass R-VIII and Strasburg C-3.

Enrollment requirements
Every school district requires that students have up-to-date immunization records. Most require proof of identification and proof of residency. See individual districts’ websites for further instructions.

On the Missouri side, children must turn 5 years old before August 1 to enroll for kindergarten. In Kansas, children must turn 5 before August 31. First-graders must be 6 on or before August 31, unless they have completed kindergarten in a public or accredited private school in another state.

Private schools
Two of the oldest private schools in the area are Pembroke Hill School (www.pembrokehill.org) and The Barstow School (www.barstowschool.org). Each offers a small classroom size and a challenging college-preparatory curriculum. Both schools are coed.

Other private schools include such notables as Rockhurst High School (www.rockhursths.edu), a Jesuit college preparatory school for young men, and St. Teresa’s Academy (www.stteresasacademy.com), a Catholic school for young women. Private schools in the metro are attended by a wide variety of students from a broad range of economic classes.

Higher Education
The metropolitan has many options for post-secondary education. Here are 20 of them:

Colleges & Universities

University of Kansas, Lawrence, www.ku.edu

University of Missouri-Kansas City, www.umkc.edu

University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, www.ucmo.edu

Park University, Parkville, Mo., www.park.edu

Avila University, www.avila.edu

Missouri Western State College, St. Joseph, www.mwsc.edu

Northwest Missouri State University, Maryville, www.nwmissouri.edu

Rockhurst University, Kansas City, Mo., www.rockhurst.edu

William Jewell College, Liberty, Mo., www.jewell.edu

Webster University, Kansas City, Mo., www.webster.edu/kc

MidAmerica Nazarene College, Olathe, Kan., www.mnu.edu

Baker University, Baldwin City, Kan., www.bakeru.edu

Haskell Indian Nations University, Lawrence, Kan., www.haskell.edu/haskell

Kansas City Art Institute, www.kcai.edu


Community Colleges
Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, Kan., www.jccc.edu

Kansas City, Kansas, Community College, www.kckcc.edu

The Metropolitan Community Colleges, www.mcckc.edu

Medical
KU Medical Center, Kansas City, Kan., www.kumc.edu

Kansas City University of Medical Biosciences, www.kcumb.edu

Cleveland Chiropractic College, Kansas City, Mo., www.cleveland.edu


For a more comprehensive list, try www.univsource.com