USD 204 Mission Statement

Our mission is to help students develop 21st century skills that will enable them to:

• Develop the skills and positive attitude necessary to become responsible, productive, life-long learners
• Demonstrate the ability to solve problems and adapt to changes in the world around them
• Understand the importance of stretching themselves personally and academically so that they can become positive contributors to their families, communities and society as a whole

We further believe that successful 21st Century Schools

• Have a rigorous, relevant and guaranteed curriculum. 
• Include appropriate character education and have high expectations for everyone.
• Have the courage to make changes necessary to help all students learn.
• Make decisions based on data.
• Ensure student engagement and the creation of quality products.
• Require students to understand the relationships between and within subjects they are studying.
• Actively teach self discipline, problem solving and thinking strategies.
• Use and understand the core principals of Expeditionary Learning and best practice.
• Provide students with the extra time and support they need to meet specified learning targets.
• Include the use of technology as tools to enhance student achievement.

"A 21st Century Quality Education is Our Business" 
Continuous Improvement is Our Goal

A Message from the Superintendent

Our Expedition to Excellence

It has been a very busy (noisy in some cases) and exciting year in USD 204 this past year and thanks to the ongoing support of our community there are even more fantastic changes planned for the summer and throughout the new school year.

We will be completing almost all of the projects by August that were a part of the 18.7 million dollar bond issue that based in 2005. This includes the opening of the beautiful new Delaware Ridge Elementary School, along with expansion and remodeling libraries and adding classroom and technology space at Edwardsville Elementary, Bonner Springs Elementary and Clark Middle School. The High School has had synthetic turf added to the stadium and a new press-box and track surface and well along with technology upgrades.

The other significant and exciting news is that all three of the elementary schools and Clark Middle School have each received five year $150,000 grants from the Kauffman Foundation to implement Expeditionary Learning. This program is designed to provide a "gifted education" for everyone. Its three main components are culture, active pedagogy and expeditions. This means that students will be taught the skills needed to be problem solvers, critical thinkers, have the ability to relate well to others, develop self discipline and learn to treat others and themselves with respect. The lessons will involve being active, doing things, making things, researching topics of interest and creating products that will be memorable in their eyes. Lessons will involve more than one discipline and create a dynamic of learning as a process rather than memorizing and test preparation.

The final expeditionary component involves the use of local experts, resources and locations to bring valuable community input into the process so that students deal with real world situations and people, and that they also have additional adult role models along with their parents and teachers.

As our community and our children continue to grow and the world around us changes at an ever increasing rate, it is wonderful to know that we live in a community that always supports what is best for our children. Their time with us is precious but seems so short as the years fly by. We will continue to try and provide the best quality education that we can so that our children can be successful in the 21st century.

Thank you for your support of our children and communities.

Sincerely,
 

Dr. Robert Van Maren,

- Superintendent