Outstanding Rural School District
Glasgow R-III School District
Launch the media gallery 1 playerGlasgow School District "Home of the Yellowjackets!" is located in North Central Missouri in Howard County. It is a historic area located at a sharp bend of the Missouri River. The town of Glasgow early in its history was a busy steamboat port. The school building is located within the city of Glasgow, having a population of around 1,295 residents. The Glasgow School District's enrollment (K-12) currently stands at 264 students. The Glasgow School District has dealt with the same dilemma that many other smaller school districts in rural Missouri have had to endure and that is declining enrollment. In 1999 the district enrollment stood at over 400 students.
The philosophy of the Glasgow School District is driven by the district mission statement: Developing proud, productive citizens of a global society through partnerships of students, parents, faculty, and community.
The Glasgow School District is a quality district with many things to be proud of. Even though the school has experienced a major decline in enrollment, the district has strived to get more out of less as it pertains to the staff and students. This year, Glasgow received a 14/14 on the APR and met all areas of the AYP. The staff have volunteered to teach more preps in lieu of hiring additional staff members and even though there are fewer students, the clubs and organizations have seen an increase in participation numbers due to the organization sponsors' willingness to share students and work collaboratively in terms of time and resources.
Because of the district's strong commitment to education, the Glasgow district has been able to offer competitive salaries for staff, maintain and improve their facilities, and continue to expand and improve technology. This current school year, the focus has been on improving and updating the existing curriculum and one way to help facilitate this process has been the purchase of a lap top computer for every classroom teacher. The curriculum includes a spectrum of courses that allow every student to prepare for whatever career they might be interested in. In addition to the required classes, the district has been able to offer on-site vocational classes, advanced courses in math, science and foreign language. Maintaining a membership in the MIT-E Instructional Television Network has enabled the school to provide many opportunities for dual-credit courses.
Awards of recognition that the students at Glasgow have experienced in recent years include:
- Academic Squads capturing conference and district titles and 3rd place in state competition.
- Strong participation of student attendance at the National FFA Convention.
- Marching Band finishing 1st or 2nd in every Marching competition with larger numbers of participants than they were 10 years ago.
- One of the seniors qualifying as a Missouri 100 Scholar.
- One veteran math teacher who teaches at the Missouri Scholars Academy.
One must also recognize the supportive community of Glasgow. Several years ago, community members took on the task of actually building a community track. The end product was a track facility that has been used to host district and conference track meets at virtually no expense to the district. After the completion of the track, the need for a fine arts facility was realized when two local farmers came forward and donated $750,000 for the construction of a new auditorium.
To the many successes and recognition's that the Glasgow School District has experienced, we could not conclude within paying tribute to the members of the board of education, the administration, the staff, students and the community for a job well done and your selection as the Outstanding Rural Missouri School District for 2008.