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Today's Poll!Student numbers growing in Jefferson City
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
It looks like more students are coming.
“Just using Kindergarten through fifth grade, we’re up over 100 kids today, as compared to the same last year,” Jefferson City Schools Superintendent Brian Mitchell told school board members Monday night.
“We are at almost 750 kindergarten kids again this year, already. And the same day last year, to the start of school, we grew another 135 kids.”
Mitchell said the secondary numbers — middle schools, Simonsen Ninth Grade Center and Jefferson City High School — were not available, yet.
School districts’ official census counts aren’t taken until the end of September, after the number of students moving in or out of a district usually has stabilized.
Summer school programs also grew this summer, with classes in 14 buildings during June, and a total 2,116 students enrolled.
“That was up from 1,905 last year,” said Sheila Logan, assistant superintendent for Special Services. “That’s about 25 percent of our students participating in some form of summer school.”
Marry Me
Comments
cmnsense 9 months, 1 week ago
I wonder if this is because more people are moving into the area, or if maybe less people can afford private school anymore. Either way, another reason for a second public high school. Maybe on the west side?
JCLifer 9 months, 1 week ago
So much need evident everywhere that this town needs two smaller public high schools and not one huge monstrosity where students are just a number. However, we need two new high schools, not just building another one. The old building is worn out and totally the wrong design for educating today's students. Knock down the old building and build two new modern smaller high schools. That is what is so desparately needed in this town.
MO4LIFE 9 months, 1 week ago
How do you do that and pay for it wihout raising taxes which this town will not allow in any shape form or fashion.
JCLifer 9 months, 1 week ago
Taxpayers in this town will support worthy projects for things that are truely needed and if they are not lied to or misled. Everything has to be opened up, and they have to have ample input into it.
dokeus6 9 months, 1 week ago
" The old building is worn out and totally the wrong design for educating today's students"
And you are an expert in this field that can tell us that this statement is in fact true?
JCLifer 9 months, 1 week ago
Read the research. The best high schools for effective learning and efficient operations are those that have classes less than 150 and no more than 450 students total in the facility. The research and proof is there.
Anyone who has half a brain can see that the building designed before ADA, before computers, with window-shaker air conditioners and poor environmental air quality, and before the energy crisis when energy conservation, insulation, efficient lighting, etc. were used can see that this old building has had it. The 50-6o year old building is a very poor instructional environment for our children to prepare them for their futures.
dokeus6 9 months, 1 week ago
Like I said is this your expert opinion or just an opinion? I don't see a shred of evidence in your posts just speculation.
JCLifer 9 months, 1 week ago
Yeah, it will be very easy for you to prove that nothing has changed since the 1960s. You can also quickly scan the research to see that the design and features of the school building has no effect on the quality of learning by students. You can probably even ask students who will tell you they love to listen to a lecture in a concrete block walled class-room with window-shaker air conditioners roaring in the back ground.
Keep working- because we all know it is more important to attack the poster and discredit the poster than to read and consider what is being posted. Would it make you feel better if I told you I was a Specially-Trainied School Architech School Designer Internet Forum SuperStar? Would I need to post a copy of my diploma? What would it take for you to read the words and consider them?
JCLifer 9 months, 1 week ago
Better to spend money on good schools to educate our students then to buy trolleys, dig mud tunnels, and create a Wear's Creek Riverwalk.
spelchek 9 months, 1 week ago
I see common sense and the obvious.
LuckNLove 9 months, 1 week ago
Lifer, I agree. The voters would vote to build a more suitable environment for our children. It is sad that our jails and prisons are newer than our schools.
interested_party 9 months, 1 week ago
The current high school is over 20 years old. There are more kids, kids are bigger and have more stuff and the building standards have changed. A new high school is needed, but not, two. If you want to compare costs, I'm sure you'll find that the cost to build one new, is more economical than building two. Plus, there are increased costs to fund two of everything. Just my thoughts....
commonsense1 8 months, 3 weeks ago
Lets level the capitol too its way to old to be working out of.
jeffcitygirl 9 months, 1 week ago
Shouldn't buildings be expected to be of use longer than 20 years? You don't tear down a house after 20 years and build a new one/ I agree we need TWO high schools, and another middle school. The public schools are overcrowded. It won't happen because, gasp, what would happen to our FOOTBALL team? Since sports take priority over safety and education in this town (and too many others!)
JCLifer 9 months, 1 week ago
How old was the State Health Lab when they tore it down and rebuilt it? How old were the Taco Bells when they tore them down and rebuilt them? It isn't as much about the actual age of the building as it is about the design, efficiency, and the changing needs for its use. The world isn't the same as it was in the 1960s when it was built. We have much higher energy costs, improved knowledge of effective teaching methods, a very different teaching content, computers, ADA requirements, and we know a lot more about great schools vs. mediokre schools.
dokeus6 9 months, 1 week ago
Let's see I can go to a new Middle school that is only 7 miles a way and by the looks of that school it has the same design that the old JCHS that is completely dilapidated.
That must be why Lincoln and Linn Tech are wanting that old dilapidated school.
Lifer I don't get you. You want us to be a fiscally conservative nation and then you spout off about spending 70 million on a new school.
I can tell you are a republican flip flop flip flop.
JCLifer 9 months, 1 week ago
Who said Lincoln and Linn Tech wanted to buy the old high school? The article prior said that it was hoped that Linn Tech and Lincoln would buy the old high school (and more probably using state tax dollars to be pumped into the local district was the real reason). I suspect that Linn and maybe Lincoln have no desire to purchase the old buildings. Are you aware of offers to purchase it?
There is a difference between paying people to not work and lay around and make babies, vs. making an investment in educating our future so that our kids can compete in an international economy.
dokeus6 9 months, 1 week ago
newstribune.com/news/2012/apr/24/jc-schools-talking-lincoln-linn-state-tech-about-h/
JCLifer 9 months, 1 week ago
Yep, the JC superintendent went to them to try to unload the turkey. They did not come looking to buy it.
LuckNLove 9 months, 1 week ago
A house and place of business are two different arenas. Unlike a house, businesses typically have a higher volume of people visiting the building. And like Lifer said the way of business and learning have change tremendously, even with the last few years.
commonsense1 8 months, 3 weeks ago
Way to go jeffcitygirl you nailed it. Its time we have two public high school options. Columbia is about their third high school. Some of these people have been drinking the kool aid at the admin office on dunklin street.
rollnthndr 9 months, 1 week ago
If I recall correctly weren't there numerous groups put together regarding the future of education in this district and one of the recommendations was a second high school? If so why did the superintendent decide we only need 1 high school? The district secondary director was the former principal of the high school who was relieved of his duties for sub par performance and promoted to his current position with a pay raise. Now this person wants to institute academies and has no experience with such programs. This may very well be viable approach to educating children for the 21st century, however the district needs to spell out to taxpayers how this will occur and how they will measure the success of this program. Have they considered two high schools each offering different academies and allowing families to choose which school they prefer attending?
The current high school does need renovating, but I do not believe is obsolete. The middle school concept employed here and elsewhere has contributed to many of the problems with this district.
We need to raise expectations for our students. We seem to be educating from the bottom up in today's educational environment. Also, schools are having to provide more in the way of day care than education. Recently a high school teacher told me they received an email from the principal that students will not be counted as tardy for arriving late too class after first hour. What do we intend to accomplish with a policy like this? What happened to being held accountable for your actions/behavior?
JCLifer 9 months, 1 week ago
Academies sound like a cheap shortcut to try to "simulate" smaller schools. It also sounds like a good way to sort "smart students" from "dumb students" and put them in tracks (which will be an easy sell to the uppity snobs around here). Academies also sound like a way to show major changes and do something for a few years until someone retires- they can take credit for it before it all goes belly-up and then we are still stuck with one big high school pressure-cooker high school and students who are not well-prepared for their futures--all students with many many options.
JCLifer 9 months, 1 week ago
The current building is over 50 years old and may be closer to 60..
Gotigers 9 months, 1 week ago
We opened the middle schools so we could move the 9th graders out of the high school because the data showed it wasn't good to have the younger kids with older kids. Now we want to bring the 9th graders back in with older kids and create a "super-sized" high school? That does not sound like good planning to me.
rollnthndr 9 months, 1 week ago
I'm not sure why we opened the middle schools, but we did move 6th graders out of elementary to the new middle schools. If there is an outdated building it would be the Simonsen ninth grade center.
Economic development is an issue with only 1 public high school. Many of the middle and upper middle class have voted by moving into the Blair Oaks district. Many of my friends said they did so because it was their preference not to have their kids attend Jeff City HS. Others, like my family elected to send our children to Helias for many of the same reasons. Since Blair Oaks has sprung up on the east of the county maybe we need a new high school on the west and renovate the current high school.
Employers do look at the educational opportunities within a community and it's my belief employers aren't satisfied we only have 1 public option with many private options. Look at areas in western St. Charles and Warren counties that serve the same number of patrons and these districts will have at least 2 high schools. This area has not attracted a viable private sector employer in many years.
An additional high school would give kids more academic and extra curricular opportunities than currently exist.
commonsense1 8 months, 3 weeks ago
Rollnthndr you are correct. Two schools is what we need. Renovate jc and build a second one!
sancho 9 months, 1 week ago
Several options were explored by a group that met for many months, and took a lot of time to identify what was best for this community. I believe they reached a consensus that the academy approach was right. And Lifer, if you did not attend any of the public meetings where that was explained, you need to catch up on what "academies" are, the goals the school system hopes to accomplish by using academies, and why they are the best way to accomplish those goals. They are not designed to separate high achievers from low achievers. I suspect the Jeff City School Administration has some information about that on their website. Why don't you call them and find out how to find that info and see what the discussion in terms of academies is really about.
There is a lot of research that shows renovating old school buildings can be more economically feasible than tearing down old buildings and building new school buildings. Lifer, you mentioned that Taco Bell was torn down and rebuilt and it was not 20 years old. There is a good reason for that. Taco Bell, as well as many fast food franchises, have a business model based on building restaurants with short life spans. They plan to tear them down and build new after a couple of decades. That is not how we approach buildings that house our educaitonal institutions.
Whether the existing school building is used as a part of the school system (perhaps one of the academies) or a completely new campus is built elsewhere, the existing structure should not be leveled and the rubble hauled to a landfill. It should be renovated and reused for something else.
kentheco 9 months, 1 week ago
The current high school building should be torn down. While my daughter attended, the evacuation plan for handicap students above ground floor was to go to the stairwell and wait for the fire department. That or slide down the stairs on their bottoms.
dokeus6 9 months, 1 week ago
Just because the building doesn't meet the criteria for the American With Disabilities Act means it should be torn down.
Has this changed since your daughter went to school? If this is still the case, the school is out of conformance with the law and that needs to be remedied.
Our city council does not care one bit about the citizens of this city. They care about the businesses. They try to promote certain ones and banish the others.
This attitude towards business is why everything is being located in Columbia.
Who would want to open a new business and have their kids educated in a backwards azz town?
cmnsense 9 months, 1 week ago
Exactly. If they want more businesses to grow, more people will be relocating here for jobs. One of the first things people research about an area are the schools. What's going to happen if the families of those nearly 750 kindergartners stay throughout their public school years? This is an issue that will have to be addressed someday.
JCLifer 9 months, 1 week ago
This is terrible. Not surprising for a city that thinks it is great to lock persons with disabilities up in group homes and employ them at the sheltered workshop doing menial make-work for $1.25 an hr. This town is so backwards as compared to how other counties embrace and serve their residents with disabilities.
Just about every day I see folks in wheelchairs going down the middle of the street because the sidewalks are too rough and lack the appropriate curb cuts to accomodate wheel chairs. I wonder if anyone will feel bad when a person in a wheel chair gets hit by a truck and dies?
What's the Bible verse about "treating the least of my children"?
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