Kirksville R-III School District

Just your average third day of school, sitting in American History Through Sports at Kirksville High School...

Except your teacher is a semifinalist for Missouri 2026 Teacher of the Year!

Only 17 teachers in the entire state made it this far — narrowed down from 34 regional winners. We couldn’t be prouder of Mr. Matt Kennedy!

The first day of school is coming, Tuesday, August 19, 2025! School supply lists can be found here: https://www.kirksville.k12.mo.us/page/2024-25-school-supply-list

Here is our list of upcoming back-to-school events by building:

Early Childhood Learning Center: Preschool Preview will be held on Monday, August 18, 2025. 10:00 am-12:00 PM. This is a chance to bring supplies and meet teachers.

Kirksville Primary School: Sneak-a-Peek will be held on Monday, August 18, 2025. 11:00 am-1:00 PM. This is a chance to bring supplies, check out classrooms, and meet teachers.

Ray Miller Elementary School: Meet the Teacher will be held on Monday, August 18, 2025. 12:00 PM-2:00 PM. This is a chance to bring supplies, check out classrooms, and meet teachers.

William Matthew Middle School: Open House will be held Thursday, August 14, 2025 from 9:00 AM-11:00 AM. This is a great opportunity to pick up schedules, bring supplies to lockers, locate classrooms, and meet teachers.

WMMS 6th Grade Orientation and Luau: Thursday, August 14, 2025 from 5:00 PM-7:00 PM. See flyer!

Kirksville High School: Open House for Freshmen and New Students will be held Thursday, August 14, 2025 from 9:00 AM-12:00 PM.

KHS Picture Days:
Seniors: Wednesday, August 13, 2025, 9:00 AM-2:00 PM
Juniors: Wednesday, August 13, 2025, 11:00 AM-2:00 PM
Sophomores: Thursday, August 14, 2025, 12:00 PM-2:00 PM
Freshmen: Thursday, August 14, 2025, 9:00 AM-12:00 PM

This guy, we are so proud of this guy!

Way to go Matt Kennedy, Kirksville High School Social Studies Teacher, on being named Regional Teacher of the Year by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education!

You can read about Mr. Kennedy and the other winners from across the state here: https://dese.mo.gov/educator-quality/educator-development/current-regional-teachers-year

Show Mr. Kennedy some love in the comments!

Don't forget that Thursday, May 22, 2025 is the last day of the 24-25 school year. Students will be dismissed two hours early. Early out reminders for Thursday: 🐅AM buses will run on normal times. 🐅Each building will dismiss students two hours earlier than normal. 🐅PM buses will each run routes two hours earlier than normal. 🐅Parent pick-up at buildings will start two hours earlier than normal. 🐅ECLC will dismiss at 12:45, no PM classes, and no Tiger Club. 🐅KPS will have no after school YCare. 🐅RME will have no after school YCare.

Powderpuff Girls Flag Football is tonight, Friday, May 16, 2025 at 7pm at Spainhower Field. This marks the second year the Kirksville High School Student Council has sponsored Powderpuff Football as a fundraiser for a charity. Last year was a huge success, raising over $1,000 for Lifeline! This year Student Council is donating all their funds raised to the Kirksville Humane Society. After meeting some dogs who live at the Humane Society, (for now) the council members want to meet and beat their donation amount from last year's event! Let's all go out and support this event and our KHS Student Council! Additional details: 🐅$3 admission 🐅Concessions sold by six different KHS clubs! 🐅Raffle with over 25 prizes from local businesses. (The local businesses donated the raffle prizes, allowing all raffle proceeds to go directly to the Humane Society!) 🐅Halftime performances from KHS Color Guard and Dance Team! 🐅KHS Jazz Band will be playing at the event! Bring the family out to this fun event!

Summer school runs June 2-27, 2025 and we still have some spots open! You can enroll your children who will be in Kindergarten through 9th for the 2025-26 school year at this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSccd10BkPGIwsCbQ9wlC2nycRtgxpJvng8zb0bh9TRzV4CBvg/viewform Enroll through this Friday, May 16, 2025 to guarantee bus transportation on the first day. Students who have 100% attendance for all 20 days of Summer Journey earn a $100 Visa gift card and are entered into a drawing to win a new iPad.

The new parking lot in front of the middle school and high school is now open! The old parking lot and the driveway between the middle school and high school will be fenced off and closed tomorrow morning, Monday, 5/12/25. Thank you all in advance for your patience and understanding as we make this transition! Below is additional information that was released to our middle school and high school parents on Friday evening: Pedestrian access will remain open along the north side of the middle school, as well as the sidewalk connecting the west side of the high school to the middle school. Bus traffic will continue as usual. However, parents dropping off and picking up middle school students will be affected. Parent drop-off and pick-up of middle school students will take place within the new parking lot. Vehicles should enter the north end of the new lot (using the driveway that connects the front of the high school to Cottage Grove.) Traffic will move south through the parking lot to a concrete pedestrian pad located on the south end that will serve as the new WMMS student drop-off and pick-up location. Vehicles will exit from the south end of the new parking lot (using the driveway in front of the middle school--back onto Cottage Grove.) Please refer to this image for a visual guide. Also note that parents may still drop off or pick up middle school students in the parking lot behind the middle school (access via Hamilton Street) as an alternative. Access to the ECLC and KPS will stay unchanged via Hamilton Street. Parents dropping off or picking up high school students will continue as normal in the high school student parking lot.

Just a friendly reminder: Pets are not permitted at our fields or stadiums. We appreciate everyone's cooperation in helping to keep our spectators and athletes focused on the game, and our facilities clean. And remember—we can’t guarantee the safety of pets, especially with all these Fightin' Tigers on the premises.

Come Support Our 5th and 8th Graders--Tomorrow Night, Tuesday, May 6, 2025! 🎶 8th Grade Choir and Choraliers Concert 📍 William Matthew Middle School 🕡 6:30 PM Show (Students arrive 5:45 PM) 🎨 Fifth Grade Art and Music Show 📍 Ray Miller Elementary 🕕 6:00 PM Show – Harris, Minner, Tharp, and Wiemann classes (Students arrive 5:45 PM) 🕖 7:00 PM Show – Hunsicker, Rossbach, Sarkar, and Yount classes (Students arrive 6:45 PM)

Reminder: 🐅No School on Friday, April 18, 2025. 🐅School is in session on Monday, April 21, 2025.

William Matthew Middle School Principal Brandi VanDelft and the school board are pleased to announce that Brian Mayer has been named as our next WMMS Assistant Principal for the 2025–26 school year. Mr. Mayer currently teaches strength and conditioning physical education courses, as well as health classes, at Kirksville High School. He will begin his new role this summer in preparation for the upcoming school year.

We appreciate our assistant principals! Pictured (from left to right, top to bottom): Shawn Corbett (Kirksville High School), Rebecca Cross (William Matthew Middle School), Lindsey Fraser (Kirksville High School), Amee Jones (Ray Miller Elementary School), and Meghan Martin (Kirksville Primary School). Thank you for all you do!

We appreciate our paraprofessionals at William Matthew Middle School! Pictured (from left to right, top to bottom): Bob Crump, Lane Feeney, Kimberly Kilson, Teresa Masden, Alexis Pettus, Velda Salt, Cory Selby, and Jack Snyder. Thank you for all that you do!

We appreciate our paraprofessionals at Kirksville High School! Pictured (from left to right, top to bottom): Virginia Anderson, Christie Elliott, Heather Habel, Jami Johnson, Linda Luu, Hillary Lyons, Jessica Meyers, Anita Morales, Bryce Munn, Adriana Ovalle, Alexis Pettus, Cliff Talton, and Jackie Webb. Thank you for all that you do!

We appreciate our school librarians! Pictured from top to bottom are Heather Cottrell (Kirksville High School Librarian), Janelle Stephens (William Matthew Middle School Librarian), Nichole Walker (Ray Miller Elementary School Librarian), and Robyn Pasa (Kirksville Primary School Librarian). Thank you for all you do to inspire readers and learners!

We appreciate our paraprofessionals at Ray Miller Elementary School! Pictured (from left to right, top to bottom): Christopher Baker, Mary Carpio, Sasha Cook, Cleona Dillavou, Kevin Long, Dolores McClenathan, Renuka Quinn, Patricia Power, Justin Reynolds, Robbi Shedron, Emmi Stoehner, Kristin VanRie, and Whitney Ward. Thank you for all that you do!

We appreciate our paraprofessionals at Kirksville Primary School! Photo page one (from left to right, top to bottom): Christine Aldrich, Kelly Chaumont, Teri Gibbs, Allison Harden, McKenzie Hilderman, Raelynn Kelso, Meredith Kinney, Regana Leckbee, and Joshua Meehan. Photo page two (from left to right, top to bottom): Michelle Reeves, Kenda Roberts, Katie Roland, Robbie Shedron, Lauryn Shoush, Jill Stewart, Whitney Thompson, Alexandria Wernert, and Kelly Williams. Thank you for all that you do!