Schools

Barbeque party to say "Good-bye, Cherokee!"

On May 21, 2001, Cherokee parents had a last party before the final closing of the school. May 24, 2001, was the last school day at Cherokee Elementary. Children sang sad songs of tribute and many of them started crying.

Governor Honors Students

Held at Washburn University, the Eighteenth Annual Governor’s Scholars Award Program took place on May 6, 2001. This was a tribute to state scholars for their hard work and achievement and to those who have helped these scholars in both large and small ways.

Celebrate Success! 2001: Shawnee Mission Education Foundation honors distinguished students, educators and volunteers

Our athletes are bestowed great honor and glory, but the children and teachers who made the SMSD one of the best in the nation have always been in the shadows. The ceremony "Celebrate Success! 2001" was introduced for the first time this year but is planned as an annual event for years to come.

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Life after Death. Two schools are closed

Two schools are dead and one, Arrowhead, is left alive. The SMSD can save an alleged $1.8 million for the next school year with the two schools closed, but still has about a $3 million alleged deficit that will be covered by money from the district's reserve.
Since August 2, 2000, when the list of 11 schools being evaluated for closing was announced, numerous articles on the school closings were published, but there was very little financial information. FULL STORY =>

Who Won the Battle?

Two schools are closed; one stays open.

The smallest school in the district will stay open while Cherokee, a normal school with two sections per grade, class sizes close to the district's average, and cost per mainstream student under $5,000 will be closed. Can this be called as the district's victory?

Why Close Cherokee?

It is a long story, but the SMSD now has an operating budget deficit. For the school year 2000-01, the deficit is $2 million. For the following year, the expected deficit is about $10 million.
What can the Board of Education do? Of all of their options, the closing of three elementary schools, including Cherokee, was chosen. Why close three small elementary schools? Why Cherokee?

To Close or not to Close? Does Schools Closing Solve the Problem?
National School of Excellence to Close

Nonetheless, it is uncertain why closing one of the best schools, one that received recognition as a school of excellence, should even be considered.

Does Closing Schools Solve the Problem?

But what is the problem? Does Superintendent Dr. Kaplan want to close schools? No. N-O. However, she was convinced that balancing the 2001-02 budget, which has an approximately $10 million deficit in operating costs, can be done only by cutting educational programs and by closing schools. FULL STORY =>

A Few Words About Cheating in Schools

One area that is often neglected is ethics. One must consider, however that crossing the lines finally creates cheating. The most effective way to curb unethical behavior is to build an atmosphere of trust.

Our schools

The Shawnee Mission School District is one of the best school districts in the nation. For the 1993-94 school year, Cherokee Elementary was named a National School of Excellence by the US Department of Education.

Pie in the sky

In 1868, at the age of 21, Thomas Edison received his first patent for the invention of the voting machine. He had a simple idea: from now on, senators and congressmen can stay home and vote through telegraph lines. He believed that millions and millions of dollars could be saved. Yet, surprisingly-to him-senators and congressmen refused to accept his invention.

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A science project is a ticket to college

Any child can do what Thomas

"Ha, this is not true if I want to go to KU!" any school student can say. He will be right: to be admitted to KU he should have a GPA of 2.0 (all Cs is OK), or an ACT score of 21, or an SAT score of 875, or be in the top third of the class. Nothing is said about science projects.

Dyslexics, who they are?

About 10 percent of all students in public schools have special needs that are fulfilled through special education.

A few percent are gifted children who lose patience learning with their mainstream classmates. Special programs, Enhanced Learning (EL) in elementary schools and SEEK in the middle and high schools, are offered for them.

About 5 percent are students that have different kinds of problems, including mental illness.

About 5 percent are dyslexic. Usually, they are normal, intelligent children, a majority of whom are very smart. The only difference is in their way of learning to read, write and solve mathematical problems. The problem is that they cannot learn the same way as mainstream children.

Sally Ride in Kansas City

Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, delivered the keynote at the Science Festival at UMKC on April 26, 2003. She is the founder of Imaginary Lines, Inc., the host of The Sally Ride Science Club™. The mission of this organization is to help engage girls in science:

“According to the latest statistics, 8 of the 10 fastest growing occupations are science or technology related. Today, women make up only 19% of the technical workforce. Yet, in elementary school roughly the same numbers of girls and boys are interested in science and math.

Pie in the sky

The reality is that any budget in government agencies or organizations receiving government grants is a pie that is divided among divisions of the mentioned agencies. In school districts, buildings and administrative offices are recipients of the pie slices. Naturally, everybody wants a bigger slice regardless of the real demands. All recipients want a bigger slice from a bigger pie. This philosophy was born a long time ago, and local interests have always dominated in politics. In this aspect it is not a surprise that legislators from other counties are indifferent to the needs of Johnson county schools that have higher expenses compared to other schools in the state.

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