Shawnee Mission School District

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The Shawnee Mission School District logo (as of January 2008)

The Shawnee Mission School District (Kansas Unified School District 512) is one of the major school districts in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. Located in northeast Johnson County, Kansas, the school district enrolled approximately 40,000 students in the 2009-2010 school year. As of 2011, the district comprises 5 high schools, 5 middle schools, 38 elementary schools, and 6 instructional centers. Its headquarters are in Overland Park.[1][2][3]

Contents

[edit] History

The different districts that unified into the Shawnee Mission School District in 1969 are the Greenwood Dist #35, Shawnee Dist #27, Lenexa Dist #46, Districts #10 & #90, Valley View Dist #49, Overland Park Dist #10, Linwood Dist #1, Roesland Dist #92, Merriam Dist #99, Antioch Dist #61, Westwood View Dist #93, Prairie Dist #44, and Corinth Dist. #82. South Park Elementary school, in Merriam, Kansas played a role in school desegregation prior to the unification of the Shawnee Mission School District in 1971. South Park opened in 1948 for white students, leaving African-American students in the inadequate Walker Elementary using an outdated curriculum. Corinthian Nutter, an African-American teacher, resigned in protest and taught the students from her home. 1949's Webb v. School District 90 case paved the way for Brown v. Topeka Board of Education five years later. Skyline Elementary School was presumed to be named as such because you could see the Kansas City, Missouri's skyline from the area around the school at the time. McAuliffe Elementary School in Lenexa, Kansas was one of the first schools in the nation to open named in honor of Christa McAuliffe.The district converted from 7-8-9 Junior High model to the 7-8 Middle School model in 1986. The current superintendent is Dr. Gene Johnson.

[edit] Shawnee Mission North High School

Main article: Shawnee Mission North High School

Shawnee Mission Rural High School opened September 12, 1922, having cost $950,000 to build. It had 12 faculty members and a senior class of 20. There had been a vote on September 21, 1921, on a "proposal to organize a rural high school district." The school was named Shawnee Mission Rural until 1945, when senior Robert F. Bennett was sent to Topeka to petition the legislature for a name change to more accurately reflect the school's suburban status. Later elected Governor of Kansas, Bennett was named North's first 'Distinguished Alumnus' by the class of 1975. It was thus named Shawnee Mission High School until 1958, when East opened and Shawnee Mission High School became SM North. The student body of Shawnee Mission High had petitioned the school board to name the new school anything other than "Shawnee Mission East" in an attempt to avoid a renaming of their school. SM West opened in 1962, South in 1966, and Northwest in 1969. Today, SM North is the district's largest both in campus size and enrollment. The average enrollment is between 1,900 and 2,200 students. The school colors are black and crimson and the mascot is the Indian.

[edit] Feeder schools

[edit] Shawnee Mission East High School

Main article: Shawnee Mission East High School

Opened in the school year beginning in 1958, SM East is located at Mission Road and 75th Street. SME, SMNW, and soon SMN feature the International Baccalaureate program, one of the few in the region. As of 2008, the enrollment at East is 2,012, making it the second-most populated school in the SMSD. The mascot is a Lancer and the colors are Columbia blue, black, and white. It's located in the suburb of Prairie Village, and serves it along with families residing in Westwood, Westwood Hills, Mission Hills, Mission Woods, Fairway, northern Leawood, Overland Park.

[edit] Feeder schools

[edit] Shawnee Mission South High School

Main article: Shawnee Mission South High School

Shawnee Mission South's school colors are green and gold and its mascot is Rocky the Raider. The school's mascot was chosen by the first graduating class of 1967. The Raider was chosen as a mascot because of the popular band Paul Revere and the Raiders. Most of the students from South come from the middle school Indian Woods (which was then two separate Junior High Schools - Nallwood and Indian Creek). The school's population in 2006 was 1,805 students, down from a peak around 2,400 in 1975. South has a newspaper called "The Patriot" and a yearbook called "Heritage."

[edit] Feeder schools

[edit] Shawnee Mission West High School

Main article: Shawnee Mission West High School

Shawnee Mission West's mascot is the Viking and the official school colors are black and gold. West opened its doors in 1962; since then, it has been remodeled several times. Additions have also been made to the school, the most famous of which is "the bridge," an actual bridge between halves of the school that later had classrooms added beneath it. The current principal of Shawnee Mission West is Dr. Charles McLean. As of 2006, its population is 2,042.[citation needed]It's located in Overland Park at 85th Street and Antioch Road. The former principal, Dr. Karl Krawitz was the NEA III District Educator of the Year for 2004-2005. SM West is home to both an award-winning school newspaper, the EPIC, and yearbook, SAGA. The Epic was ranked the 5th best Newsmagazine in the country by the Scholastic Press Association in 2010. SM West has twice (1986 and 2007) placed second at the National Forensic League tournament for policy debate. SM West has a student body population that is 10% African American, which is the highest African American population of any Shawnee Mission high school.[citation needed] Statistically, SM West is the most ethnically diverse high school in the district.[citation needed] SM West draws its student population from both Overland Park, Lenexa, and from small parts of Shawnee.

[edit] Feeder schools

[edit] Shawnee Mission Northwest High School

Main article: Shawnee Mission Northwest High School

Shawnee Mission Northwest High School's mascot is the Cougar, and the school colors are black and orange. Its principal is Dr. Bill Harrington. As of the 2005-2006 school year, its population was 1,859. It is located in Shawnee at 12701 west 67th Street, between Pflumm Road and Quivira Road. Shawnee Mission Northwest launched the International Baccalaureate program at the start of the 2008-2009 school year.

[edit] Feeder schools

[edit] District centers

[edit] Former schools

[edit] Demographics

As of the census of 2000, the district has a total population of 219,949 with 93,221 households (or occupied housing units) and 59,084 families. 69.0% of the occupied housing units are occupied by the owner. The racial makeup of the district is 91.0% White, 2.6% Black or African American, 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.8% Asian, less than 0.1% Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander, 1.6% of some other race, and 1.6% of two or more races. 4.3% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 93,221 households out of which 29.9% are individuals living alone, 63.4% are families, and 6.7% are non-families with two or more people. 52.2% of households (or 82.4% of families) are married couples living together and 28.6% (or 45.1%) have their own children (that is persons under the age of 18) living with them. Out of the 11.2% of households that have a householder with no spouse present, 44.4% are women living with their own children. The average household size is 2.33, and the average family size is 2.93.

The 50,632 children residing in the district are 23.0% of the total population, and 13,283 (6.0%) are under the age of 5; 13,605 (6.2%) are from 5 to 9; 14,874 (6.8%) are from 10 to 14; and 8,870 (4.0%) are from 15 to 17. 48.8% of the children are female. For 95.1% of the children in the district the householder is the child's parent and 77.3% live in married-couple families, but 1.1% are not related to the householder. Also 21 householders or spouses are under the age of 18.

[edit] See also

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[edit] References

  1. ^ "Overland Park city, Kansas." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on March 21, 2011.
  2. ^ "Official Street Map." City of Overland Park. Retrieved on March 21, 2011.
  3. ^ "SMSD Home." Shawnee Mission School District. Retrieved on March 21, 2011. "Shawnee Mission School District • 7235 Antioch Road • Shawnee Mission, KS 66204"
 This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (November 2008)

[edit] External links

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