Type US Public Secondary Principal Kelly Allison Enrollment 1,800 Mascot Chief | Established 1971 Grades 9–12 Phone +1 417-523-8500 Founded 1971 | |
Motto Spirit, Tradition, Excellence, Opportunity, Community, Performance Address 3710 S Jefferson Ave, Springfield, MO 65807, USA District Springfield R-Xii School District Similar Glendale High School, Parkview High School, Missouri State University, Central High School, Cherokee Middle School | ||
Kickapoo High School is a high school in Springfield, Missouri. Kickapoo officially opened its doors in October 1971, the fifth of Springfield's five high schools. When Kickapoo was first established the construction had not completed so at the start of classes the students of Kickapoo split shifts at cross-town rival Glendale for about six weeks, with Glendale's students going to classes from 6 a.m. until noon, and Kickapoo's using the Glendale campus from 1 p.m. until 7 p.m. It is named "Kickapoo" after its location in a part of Springfield known as the "Kickapoo Prairie" and after the Native American Tribe. The school's mascot is the "Kickapoo Chief". In 2014 it had about 2,100 students and 100 teachers, making Kickapoo the largest of the five high schools in Springfield. After adjustments were made to district lines, this number dropped to 1,800 in the 2015-2016 school year.
Contents
Academics
Kickapoo 's characteristics include: Honors, Dual Enrollment and Advanced Placement courses, an Orthopedically Handicapped Program, a Learning Resource and a Japanese language program. Kickapoo also participates in a program known as A+, in which students must maintain a 2.5 GPA and complete a certain number of service hours, most of which are completed through peer tutoring. Students who successfully complete the A+ program automatically get a free two-year scholarship to a two-year college in the state.
Journalism
PN Media is a student produced news organization on the campus of Kickapoo High School in Springfield, Missouri. The flagship paper, The Prairie News, has been published since the school opened in 1971.
In 2008 the program underwent a major revision when the paper was renamed 'PN Media'. In May 2009 KHS Prairie News was launched to provide Kickapoo students with a more up to date news source. PN Media overhauled the site in the fall of 2009.
The paper has also undergone a large redesign, moving from an 8.5" by 11" format to a full broadsheet newsprint paper featuring large color sections. The paper is also available online in a non-interactive PDF format.
In recent years, the Journalism Department switched its publication to a full color magazine dubbed the "KHQ" standing for "Kickapoo High Quarterly."
Kickapoo is also host of the ChiefTV Network is a student produced broadcast journalism group, which produces video announcements on a daily basis.
Mandatory ID Badges
Kickapoo makes use of mandatory identification badges for all students and staff to prevent unauthorized entry into the Kickapoo. The ID badges as well as school-wide video surveillance were introduced following a series of nationwide school shootings in the late 1990s.
The I.D. badges have a bar code built into them that allow for their use for direct access to a student's lunch account. The I.D. badge can also be scanned to check out books as well as if a student is tardy. If a student pays a fee, a stadium icon will be put on their badge allowing them access to some sporting events without having to buy a ticket.
A red portion of the badge bordering the bar code means a student it a freshman (9th grade), blue means a sophomore (10th grade), green means junior (11th grade), and gold means the student is a senior (12th grade).
Student Mentoring System
For many years, at the end of each year, sophomores and juniors at Kickapoo had the opportunity to apply to be a part of the school's Freshman Mentoring Program, as well as Compton Integration. These students were charged with assimilating small groups of freshmen into the school culture. They also assigned rudimentary study skills and research tasks to all freshmen. This program took place during Chief Time .
As of the 2014-2015 school year, the appointment of a new coordinator for the system led to re-formatting of the entire concept. Rather than the mentoring continuing to be exclusive to freshmen across the school, it was decided that it would be expanded to include all of the other grades. The timing of the mentoring was the same, but with the expanded assistance came the name change to Chief Mentors. All Chief Mentors are not only responsible for their weekly tutoring times, but also high school assimilation activities (like the famous Freshman Pow-Wow) and volunteering events with local organizations.
Status System
At the conclusion of the 2009/2010 school year, the "Brave," "Warrior," and "Chief" status was dropped. This left only the ranks "Chief" and "Brave," which were provided only to Freshman (now Chief) Mentors. The "Chief" icon on the I.D. badge served as a paperless hall pass and allowed students to leave class/school two to three minutes early. Now, the ranking system has been dropped entirely, however the early-leaving from classes has been maintained.
Block System
The school schedule is a four block system: Each day, students have four classes around 95 minutes each in length. The semester is 18 weeks long.
Chief Time
The 2004/2005 school year saw the introduction of a program called 'Chief Time.' In the 2011/2012 School year, the Chief Time schedule was changed to include 35 minutes in each class throughout the week. First block classes on Monday, Second on Tuesday, Third on Wednesday, Fourth on Thursday. Students are allowed to do different things during this block, (excluding Wednesday because of the lunch periods and Friday due to Late Start) depending on their grade and academic status. During the second semester of the 2013/2014 school year, a change to the previous order of the blocks in which the chief time occurred was made. Instead of Chief Time being in first block on Mondays, it happens in fourth block on Mondays, third block on Tuesdays, second block on Wednesdays, and finally fourth block on Thursdays.
Students with extreme academic issues can be assigned to a Chief Time class where they receive tutoring for the duration of Chief Time.
Late Start
On Fridays, school starts at 8:20, rather than 7:50. This adds time for detention on Friday mornings as well as time to make up tests. This also creates time in the morning for groups of teachers to meet for Collaboration, a meeting when teachers from the same department review their learning goals and revise them as needed.
Camp Barnabas Fundraising
During the 2006/2007 school year, there were two fundraisers for an organization called Camp Barnabas. Between the two, about $4,000 was raised. An unidentified corporate donor matched that amount for a total donation of around $8,000.
Stop the Bop
Kickapoo adopted the Stop The Bop fundraiser from a Pennsylvania school. The Hanson song MMMBop was played between classes until the student body donated $2,000.
Spirit Shirts
Kickapoo's name has led to the making of a number of creative spirit shirts sold to the students. The most widely known of these being the famous "Fear the 'Poo" shirts in both brown and gold. The 2007/2008 shirt reads "Smoke the Totem Pole," which depicts Kickapoo at the top of a totem pole, followed by Hillcrest, Parkview, Central, and at the bottom, Glendale: Kickapoo's biggest rival. Some shirts feature a camouflage design with "Fear the Poo" on them. This represents going to battle against rival Glendale. Several shirts make a clever pun on the fact that the school's name has the word "Poo" in it, e.g. "Flushing the Competition Since 1972".