Education

By Marcus Clem The St. Joseph School District has to fix teacher recruitment and retention, and a big change is on deck to try to do that. The Board of Education will vote at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 26, to either give Superintendent Gabe Edgar permission to put in a four-day class calendar, or block

By Marcus Clem Perhaps more than ever before, in announcing the dismissal of class this week, the St. Joseph School District told the public it really didn’t want to, and felt forced by the circumstances. Speaking before he made the final decision, Superintendent Gabe Edgar said the moment in which it seems likely class should

By Marcus Clem It comes down to the wire on whether the St. Joseph School District will have approval to move forward with plans to drop Monday from its class calendar this fall. David Foster is committed to voting “no” on the proposal when it comes up at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 26 at the

By Marcus Clem A Kansas City-area school leader told the St. Joseph Board of Education on Monday that the four-day weekly class plan he installed last year has worked well. Superintendent Dale Herl, speaking via video conference from Jackson County, Missouri, gave a briefing on what the Independence School District has done since it dropped

By Marcus Clem A Kansas City-area school leader told the St. Joseph Board of Education on Monday that the four-day weekly class plan he installed last year has worked well. Superintendent Dale Herl, speaking via video conference from Jackson County, Missouri, gave a briefing on what the Independence School District has done since it dropped

By Marcus Clem St. Joseph public schools will not be holding class on Wednesday amid the championship parade to be held for the NFL Super Bowl LVIII victors, but classes will be held as normal elsewhere in the area. The St. Joseph School District explained the situation on Monday regarding the Kansas City Chiefs. Given

By Marcus Clem St. Joseph public schools will not be holding class on Wednesday amid the championship parade to be held for the NFL Super Bowl LVIII victors, but classes will be held as normal elsewhere in the area. The St. Joseph School District explained the situation on Monday regarding the Kansas City Chiefs. Given

By NewsPress Now St. Joseph’s hometown university will not be in normal operations on Wednesday to celebrate the NFL Super Bowl LVIII champion Kansas City Chiefs. Missouri Western State University’s campus will be closed in honor of the Chiefs, amid the official parade that is being organized by the Kansas City Sports Commission in Downtown

By NewsPress Now St. Joseph’s hometown university will not be in normal operations on Wednesday to celebrate the NFL Super Bowl LVIII champion Kansas City Chiefs. Missouri Western State University’s campus will be closed in honor of the Chiefs, amid the official parade that is being organized by the Kansas City Sports Commission in Downtown

By Marcus Clem A week of events has served to recognize the specialists who perform lifesaving work in school buildings with a sense of compassion and responsiveness that is sometimes in dire need. National School Counseling Week honors the work school counselors do to respond to students in distress that can be attributed to incidents

By NewsPress Now The St. Joseph School District said Wednesday that its interim director of operations has been honored as among the best leaders in the field of ensuring school buildings are kept in the best possible shape. Casey Housman won praise for good performance in day-to-day tasks, several large heating, ventilation and air conditioning

By NewsPress Now Clarence Green is concluding 28 years of service to Northwest Missouri State University and will retire effective March 31, according to a news release. A Class of 1994 baccalaureate alumnus from East St. Louis, Illinois, Green became a university employee in 1996 and took on several roles, most persistently as chief of

By Marcus Clem On previous occasions that St. Joseph’s elected school leaders went to the Missouri Capitol to talk education policy, they advocated for funding increases they described as a need, which has now become a crisis. Board President LaTonya Williams and Board Vice President Kenneth Reeder will be leading a board delegation on Tuesday

By Marcus Clem A locally authored book offers professional guidance to parents who take their kids out of the conventional school system to give them an education at home. “Homeschool Tackle Box,” published by retired Central High School teachers Nancy Piercy and Sue Nothstine via Amazing Things Press, is designed to assist parents in developing

By Marcus Clem After years of trying, lawmakers are making another attempt to break down rules that require most students to attend the school district wherein they reside. Passed on Wednesday by a vote of 86-73, House Bill 1989 would hypothetically permit students in St. Joseph to attend one of the neighboring districts like Savannah

By Marcus Clem The largest tech-centered construction project in Northwest Missouri will have one section of it named in honor of a hometown St. Joseph industry leader. The Gray Manufacturing Workshop Bay will serve as the heart of the Convergent Technology Alliance Center when it opens this fall on the campus of Missouri Western State

By NewsPress Now (StatePoint) Taking the SAT or ACT exam is the culmination of months of test-specific preparation, and in truth, years of schooling. While knowing that can feel like a lot of pressure, there are steps you can take the night before the exam to calm your nerves and enter the testing site with

By Marcus Clem A Wednesday event united students from 11 counties in Northwest Missouri on learning the creation of something greater than themselves in the free market. The district conference of the Future Business Leaders of America is a competitive event held at Missouri Western State University for members of each high school’s FBLA club

By Kirsten Stokes A bill established in the Missouri Legislature aims to keep salaries for superintendents more in line with other staff members. The goal of House Bill 2344 sponsored by state Rep. Ben Keathley of Chesterfield, Missouri, is to ensure superintendents are not paid more than 5½ times the total compensation of a beginning

By Marcus Clem A series of criminal complaints is on file in Buchanan County involving households with children who allegedly failed to attend school on a chronic basis. The charges against Holli C. Park, Brittany L. Sipes, Deanna A. Meyer, Crystal R. Clark, Ashley R. Denney, Rosaland N. Simmons and Vickie L. Crutchfield come after

By Marcus Clem A series of criminal complaints is on file in Buchanan County involving households with children who allegedly failed to attend school on a chronic basis. The charges against Holli C. Park, Brittany L. Sipes, Deanna A. Meyer, Crystal R. Clark, Ashley R. Denney, Rosaland N. Simmons and Vickie L. Crutchfield come after

By Charles Christian The two library systems that serve St. Joseph are preparing for another year of reading and connecting. The branches of the St. Joseph Public Library system and Rolling Hills Library are once again offering story times for readers from infancy through preschool. Story times are offered at 10:30 a.m. each Thursday at

By Marcus Clem As temperatures drop each year, so does the rate at which kids show up to school in St. Joseph, but the district holds that rate will climb back up, based on past data. The month of December 2023, viewed in isolation, produced a low 72.59% rate of satisfactory attendance. That means that

By Marcus Clem Plans are still underway to develop a four-day calendar for local schools, despite some school board pushback and ongoing calls to make the idea illegal in Missouri. The St. Joseph Board of Education discussed the concept this week, which if put in place would likely involve kids not attending class anymore on

By Jenna Wilson Weather conditions in the area have interfered with school bus routes, and the St. Joseph School District is working on ways to tackle the issue and keep students and drivers safe. Parents have voiced concern about delays and cancellations with school bus arrivals during inclement weather. “We understand that there have been

By Marcus Clem NOTE: This story has been updated to correct a factual error regarding board member requests following Monday’s vote by the Board of Education. David Foster and Kim Miller asked to change their abstentions to “no.” Isaura Garcia asked for another vote to be held.  A divided St. Joseph Board of Education created

By Riley Funk A new principal will take the mantle at Parkway Elementary School for the next school year. The St. Joseph Board of Education announced Amanda Ueligger, the current assistant principal at Lindbergh Elementary, will take the job starting on July 1. Ueligger said that becoming a principal is a goal that she has

By Charles Christian The recent resignation under pressure of Harvard University’s president raises questions about her path to tenure and what the process entails. Claudine Gay remains a tenured member of the college’s faculty following her departure as president amid controversy on Harvard’s campus regarding the treatment of Jewish students and concerns about plagiarism charges.

By Marcus Clem The St. Joseph Board of Education decided Monday to delay any vote on boundary changes, despite urgent calls to rebalance student populations. The board tabled the current Boundaries 2024/2025 plan, which envisioned changes affecting elementary and middle schools where nearly 5,500 children attended in the 2022-23 year. Some 24.9% of those students,