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 educates about 35,000 students in its 69 elementary, middle and high schools. Although most are comprehensive community schools that teach basic core curriculum, others are magnet schools that offer African-centered studies, applied learning, investigative learning, college preparatory, early childhood, environmental science, foreign language, Head Start, Montessori, and visual and performing arts. www.kcmsd.net

Nearly 17,000 students are enrolled in the Lee’s Summit School District, one of the fastest-growing school districts in Missouri. Approximately 79 percent of its high school graduates attend college. To be enrolled in kindergarten, a child must be five years of age on or before July 31. www.leesummit.k12.mo.us

The Blue Springs School District gets high marks with more than 80 percent of its students attending college. In 2008, the district was given the ShowMe Award by the Missouri ACT State Organization Council to recognize the district’s awareness and preparation for the test, received a perfect score on the Annual Performance Report from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education — for the seventh year in a row, and in April received two grants to provide math and science training and follow-up programs for teachers throughout the year. www.bluesprings-schools.net

The Independence School District serves about 11,000 students and boasts National Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence, Missouri Gold Star Schools and many awards for academic and athletic performance. 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 schools have won 14 Blue Ribbon awards of distinction from the
U.S. Department of Education. All four of the district’s high schools were recently named to Newsweek’s top 1,300 U.S. public high schools. The fastest-growing district in the county, it currently serves more than 20,000 students.www.bluevalleyk12.org

Shawnee Mission students consistently score above national and state averages on standardized tests. The district has the largest student population at 30,000. Special education programs for children with disabilities and advanced skills are available throughout the district, as well as AP courses and International Baccalaureate programs at the high school level. www.smsd.org

Kansas’ fourth largest district inenrollment, Olathe, offers more than 26,000 students an average student-teacher ratio of 15:1. Ninety percent of graduating seniors attend college. www.olathe.k12.ks.us

DeSoto’s unified school district covers the largest geographic area of Johnson County and serves nearly 6,100 students, with a 7-percent annual growth rate. It is well-known for retaining some of the best teachers in the state, having been recognized by the Kansas Teacher of the Year the last eight years. www.usd232.org

Gardner-Edgerton’s 3,000 students receive a personalized education, with a student-teacher ratio of 16:1 in grades K-6 and 13:1 in grades 7-12. The district runs six elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school. www.usd231.com

The Spring Hill school district specializes in integrating technology into classroom instruction. Four schools serve more than 11,500 students. 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 serves nearly 20,000 students at three preschools, 30 elementary schools (grades K-5), eight middle schools (grades 6-8), four senior high schools (grades 9-12), Sumner Academy of Arts & Science (grades 8-12), an alternative school program and an area technical school. www.kckps.org

Turner Unified School District is made up of five elementary schools, one middle school, one high school, an alternative center and an early learning center. www.turnerusd202.org

Bonner Springs/Edwardsville has three elementary schools, one middle school and one high school. www.usd204.k12.ks.us

The Piper School District has two elementary schools, one middle school and one high school, with all at or over capacity, as the area is experiencing a surge in growth. 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.

The North Kansas City district serves more than 17,000 students and is predicted to increase to 28,000 with the addition of families to Shoal Creek Valley, a major new residential development in the area. The district offers all-day kindergarten, gifted education, fifth-grade strings music program, middle school extended-day programs, summer enrichment program, and elementary before- and after-school child care. All three high schools in the district are designated as “A+” by the state, allowing students who meet academic, attendance and citizenship criteria to receive two years of college tuition reimbursement. www.nkcsd.k12.mo.us

Students in Liberty excel in academics and athletics, with test scores above state and national averages. For five consecutive years, the district has been deemed “high performing,” the utmost accreditation by the state of Missouri. www.liberty.k12.mo.us

Platte County, Mo.
Park Hill R-IV School District is the largest district in the county, with nearly 9,000 students being served in Kansas City, Mo. Platte County R-III School District is the second-largest, with approximately 2,500 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 10 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