Expansion Management magazine published for business executives. Gold Medal schools rank in the top 18 percent nationally. In February 2002 the state board gave the district the option of waiving the next accreditation visit because of a perfect score on its Annual Performance Report, and awarded the district the Distinction in Performance Award. Dr. Michael Jinks, superintendent, was named Missouri Superintendent of the Year 2002.

The district has an enrollment of 3,200 students and includes an early childhood center, four elementary schools, a middle school, high school, an alternative school, and an area vocational technical school, all of which are fully air-conditioned.

The district recognizes the importance of technological advances in educating and preparing students for their future and has invested more than a million dollars in equipment and software. Twelve hundred computers are in operation and all buildings, with the exception of one, have a computer lab. All are Internet accessible.

With a staff of 460, the district is one of the largest employers in Warrensburg. Teachers average 14 years of classroom experience, and 59 percent hold advanced degrees. District wide, the average student-to-teacher ratio is 13-to-1.

The system has a full-day kindergarten program and an early childhood center. Each elementary school houses a media center and offers art, music, and physical education by fully certified staff members along with support for students with special needs.

The middle school curriculum is organized on an eight-block schedule and features interactive video, foreign language courses, and special opportunities for gifted students. The Peer Helper Program assists new students by assigning them a student helper to aid them during the first few weeks.

Students at Warrensburg High School are also on an eight-block schedule and participate in a wide-range of quality academic programs that include programs for gifted students at all grade levels, an honors program, and advanced placement classes in a variety of subjects. College credit is offered through both Central Missouri State University and the University of Missouri – Kansas City. The high school, designated as an A+ School, with the class of 2002 being the first to graduate A+ students. Service Learning is part of the curriculum and its success is measured by the number of students involved in 32 different projects and the distinction of being awarded as a Missouri Service-Learning Leader School.

The Warrensburg Area Vocational Technical School prepares students and adults from Johnson County for rewarding careers in areas including computer programming, technology information management, agriculture, nursing, automobile mechanics, building trades, office technology, and cosmetology.

The school district publishes an annual report each December, which is available to all patrons. For more information, contact the district office at (660) 747-7823, or visit www.warrensburg.k12.mo.us.

 It is the policy and practice in the admission of students not to discriminate on the basis of race, sex, or national or ethnic origin. All parents are required to sign a statement of faith and a statement of cooperation expressing their support of JCCA.   

Founded in 1871 as a normal school for the education of teachers, today UCM is a comprehensive university grounded in the liberal arts and fulfilling a statewide mission in professional technology. Spread across 1,166 landscaped acres, the university’s four colleges offer more than 150 areas of study to nearly 12,000 students. 

Most Central programs emphasize skills needed for a successful career, and well over 95 percent of the university’s graduates are employed in their specialty within six months of graduation.

Unique programs and facilities at the university include Pertle Springs, a 300-acre recreational and biological research area; the Max B. Swisher Skyhaven Airport, which serves both Central and Warrensburg; the Missouri Safety Center; and public broadcasting stations KMOS-TV and KTBG-FM. Also included is the Center for Technology and Small Business Development; University Farm; and the main campus with its instructional buildings, 19 residence halls, Audrey J. Walton Stadium at Vernon Kennedy Field, Ed Elliot University Union and Multipurpose Building. As a well-known cultural center, Central provides abundant opportunities to attend events and exhibitions of the fine and performing arts.

Centrals’ newest facility, the $30 million James C. Kirkpatrick Library, is an advanced-technology facility that is emphasizing Central’s role as the information hub for central Missouri, with knowledge transfer capabilities through advanced data communication techniques.

University Of Central Missouri is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. All of it’s teacher education programs are dually accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education and the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. All undergraduate and graduate business administration degree programs in Central’s College of Business and Economics have earned the prestigious accreditation of the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business. In addition, programs in art, aviation, chemistry, music, speech pathology and audiology, nursing, home economics, social work, drafting technology, construction science, and industrial science are all accredited by the National Accreditation Organization.

Central has a positive effect on the Warrensburg area that goes well beyond its academic presence. A major employer, it supports a large segment of the local economy and also enriches the social, recreational and cultural environment. Equally important are the students, faculty members and employees who make significant civic contributions and are involved in many community organization and projects. In short, the university is a good neighbor.

Like Warrensburg as a whole, Central has prospered because it is willing and ready to meet new challenges.

For more information about programs or admission to University of Central Missouri, call the Office of Admissions at (800) 956-0177.
 

2008 Economic Impact Report



The Webster University of the 1990s retains the same pioneering spirit envisioned by its founders in the early 20th century - a spirit of academic innovation which, for 80 years, has not wavered. Webster University traces its roots to 1812, with the founding of the Sisters of Loretto, one of the first religious communities of women in the United States. Pursuing a mission of education, the women moved westward from Kentucky, founding schools as they went.

With the depressed economy of the 1930s, Webster struggled, but the '40s and '50s were decades of gradual growth at Webster, both in the physical dimensions of the campus and in the number of students. During the 1960s, Webster College made changes which would dramatically alter its course through the latter half of the century. In 1962, the school enrolled its first male students. Two men attended the first year and were allowed to take only a few classes in the arts. By 1968, the College was fully coeducational. The College began the Master of Arts in Teaching program in 1963 on a grant from the Ford Foundation. Designed for working teachers, the M.A.T. was Webster's first venture in offering evening classes to full-time professionals. Finding it increasingly difficult to finance the College from internal resources, in 1967 the Sisters of Loretto transferred ownership of the school to a lay board of directors.

 In 1966, the College offered courses outside St. Louis for the first time in the Kansas City area. In 1973, Webster established its Master of Arts program. Modeled after the M.A.T., it was designed to meet the needs of working professionals in management and service-related fields. The format of intensive nine-week courses, the scheduling of classes for the convenience of working individuals, and the use of practicing professionals as instructors answered the educational needs of adult learners - a group then not widely represented on college campuses.

In 1974, attracted by Webster's response to adult learners, the Department of Defense invited Webster to open its first M.A. extended campus program at Fort Sheridan in Chicago.

Expanding its outreach, the University now offers programs to students at 68 sites in the United States, including 22 metropolitan campuses, 15 corporate sites and 31 military locations.

In 1991, Webster University began offering graduate classes at the education center on Whiteman Air Force Base in Knob Noster, Missouri.  Students represent a variety of area employers, such as active duty and retired military, government employees and contractors, and civilian managers and executives from the surrounding communities.

In order to meet the students' needs, Webster began offering master's degrees in management, human resources development, and a master's of business administration (M.B.A.).

All classes are held on base in the weeknight and weekend format. Because Whiteman Air Force Base is located 70 miles east of Kansas City, they provide an excellent opportunity for rural students to obtain a master's degree without driving to Kansas City. Access to Whiteman Air Force Base to attend class is permitted for students who do not have base privileges.

The education center provides for classroom needs, and the base library is an excellent facility in which to conduct the needed research of a graduate student. The library is also equipped with access to the Passport Library computer systems, providing students access to a database of reference materials.  

For more information, contact Webster University on the web at www.websteruniv.edu .

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