Dr. Jerrod Wheeler Shares a Year-In-Review "Top 10 List"
Dear Knob Noster Parents and Community:
As 2017 comes to a close, we want to take this special opportunity to thank each of you for your support of Knob Noster Public Schools, our students, and our team. Through your support and partnership, 2017 has been another standout year for our school and our community. Provided below is a year-in-review “Top 10 List” of accomplishments of Knob Noster Public Schools. Our students, teachers, and Board of Education continue to prove that KNPS is the pacesetter in Central Missouri when it comes to K-12 education, and we are very proud of the following accomplishments that you have helped our students achieve!
10. Knob Noster Public Schools yet again earned its highest-ever Annual Performance Report from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, climbing from 98.7% in 2016 to 99.3% in 2017. Like 2016, this 2017 score ranks KNPS at the top of all school districts in the Missouri River Valley Conference and all K-12 Districts in Johnson, Henry, Pettis, and Lafayette counties.
9. Knob Noster Public Schools was awarded a five-year, $1.25 Million Department of Defense Educational Activities Military Child Academic Support Program Grant to provide: (1) Additional Advanced Placement STEM courses, (2) Teacher Training (3) Robotics Expansion, and (4) Curriculum Development, for Knob Noster students.
8. Last year’s National Math + Science Initiative Grant in the amount of $400,000 resulted in Knob Noster High School producing the highest number of Advanced Placement enrollments and qualifying scores (per school enrollment size) of all high schools across Air Force Global Strike Command.
7. Tax Rates dropped for the third consecutive year in KNPS providing more tax relief for local taxpayers, as a result of new revenues from the utilities pipeline. This results in KNPS having the lowest local school tax rate in all major school districts in the Whiteman AFB region, establishing Knob Noster as an attractive community for business and residential development.
6. Knob Noster Public Schools was awarded the 2017 National Partnership of Excellence Award from the Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC). Knob Noster Public Schools received the award based upon our partnership and friendship with Whiteman Air Force Base, which continues to strengthen. WAFB was instrumental in bringing VEX and FIRST Robotics to KNHS! WAFB again provided two full-time Military Family Life Counselors to better serve KNPS students. On a daily basis, WAFB continues to contribute in countless ways to enhance Knob Noster Public Schools for students and staff.
5. KNPS accomplished another sound fiscal year and produced another clean fiscal audit as a result of ongoing, strong financial leadership. Knob Noster ended the year with the largest reserve balance in the Capital Projects Fund in over two decades. The district increased compensation for all employees and maintained 100% Board Paid Health Insurance. The district also decreased the student-to-teacher ratio and increased the student-to-administrator ratio.
4. Climate, Culture, and Character Education in KNPS are trending upward! A ratified Collective Bargaining Agreement and meet and confer sessions with the Knob Noster Association of Teachers exemplifies positive relationships with faculty. This year, KNPS continued its new K-12 Character Education Program, Panthers R.O.C.K., to recognize students for excellence in personal character. Over two dozen local businesses continue to endorse the program to demonstrate active support for Character Education within our school and community!
3. The Board of Education approved the purchase of over 1,000 student devices (laptop computers) in 2017 which established Knob Noster Public Schools as one of the few K-12 school districts in the state offering a 1:1 program for ALL students and the only school district in the Whiteman AFB region to do so.
2. Knob Noster Team Sports performed extremely well in 2017, including the following accomplishments: Final Four in Baseball, District Championship in Baseball, District Championship in Softball, and a Second Place District finish in Football. Individual athletes also produced state placements in Wrestling, Track, and Cross Country.
1. Knob Noster students’ co-curricular accomplishments abounded in 2017, and included: Multiple All District Choir placements, Multiple Band awards and championships, FIRST Robotics State and World Championship placements, Destination Imagination Global Finals placement, and FBLA National placement.
As highlighted in this Top 10 List, the students and teachers of Knob Noster Public Schools have helped set our school and our community apart from the rest. We also commend our Board of Education for their excellent governance which allowed these accomplishments to occur.
As we look ahead to 2018 and beyond, the future looks very bright, and we are excited about what’s in store! Again, we thank each of you for your ongoing support, involvement, and partnership.
From our family to yours, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a healthy, safe, and prosperous New Year!
Go Panthers!
Best Regards,
Jerrod Wheeler, Ed. D.