Rockwood School District kick off year with new changes

BALLWIN, Mo. – Many Missouri school’s are kicking off their new year Monday morning. Among them is Rockwood, the area’s largest district.

Crestview Middle School is the largest middle school in Rockwood, with more than 1,100 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders attending classes here.

Crestview Middle School, located on Clayton Road, will be a busy area as the morning unfolds, with classes starting just after 7:45 a.m.

Mary Lapak, Rockwood’s Chief Communications Officer, says there are just over 19,400 students in Rockwood in kindergarten through the 12th grade. There are an additional 700+ students in the district’s early childhood program.

Rockwood has 150 new teachers entering this year, along with 19 new district coordinators, principals, assistant principals, administrative interns, and activity directors.

Lapak says Rockwood has 93 bus routes this year; last year there were 96. She says the district has enough bus drivers for all of the routes, along with a couple of substitute drivers, but they are still looking to hire more.

There is also a new transportation app for Rockwood parents. It’s being billed as a one-stop portal for bus information.

Another big issue is cell phones in schools. Lapak says at all four Rockwood High Schools, phones should be silenced and stored during instructional time. At the elementary and middle schools, they should be put away during the entire school day.

“We are not talking about a total ban of cell phones, but we absolutely expect that cell phones are put away during instructional time. Lapak says. “We just want it to be an optimal learning environment for all students and really the best way to do that is any personal device is put away during instructional time so they can concentrate on the teacher and their instructions.”

With a long year ahead, Fox 2 spoke with Rockwood School District Superintendent Curtis Cane on what to expect entering the year.

“I think that just promise is the word that best describes how I feel when I think about this upcoming school year,” Cain explained. “It’s a tremendous school district, and I’m honored to be a part of it. Folks love being here, and I think we are going to have a very promising, forward-leaning school year this year.”

The theme this year in Rockwood is “We Partner; We Plan; We Promise.” Rockwood will be looking at a five-year strategic plan as this year unfolds, incorporating that theme. They hope to involve many community members in that discussion.

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