McPherson Unified School District 418

The McPherson Unified School District 418 is not only recognized as one of the leading school districts in Kansas, but also as a model for the country.

Routinely,McPherson students academically outperform students in public and private schools across Kansas and the nation. In both academics and extracurricular activities,McPherson USD 418 is one of the best school districts in the nation.

McPherson schools are served by two central office administrators, a director of instruction, nine building administrators, a food service/transportation director, a buildings and grounds director, 252 certified and 283 classified staff.

The district operates an early education center, four elementary schools, a middle school, a high school, an alternative high school program, and is also the Sponsoring district of the McPherson County Special Education Cooperative.

Enrollment (Pre-K-12) in the McPherson schools is approximately 2,400. All McPherson USD 418 schools are fully accredited by the Kansas State Board of Education under the Quality Performance Accreditation system.

The four neighborhood elementary schools—pre-kindergarten through 5th grade—have an average regular education class size of 19 students. Each of the McPherson USD 418 elementary schools offers a comprehensive program, including library services, art, vocal and instrumental music, computer-assisted instruction, and special education.

McPherson Middle School, grades 6-8, offers a broad program of academic and elective exploratory courses, and is the only middle school in central Kansas to Provide a pre-advanced placement curriculum.

Middle school regular education classes average 22 students. Activities in drama, student government, and athletics are provided for students.

McPherson High School, grades 9-12, offers a strong college preparatory program, as well as vocational education and career planning services.The average regular education class size at McPherson High School is 22 students. A wide selection of co-curricular and extracurricular programs are available for students.McPherson High School offers 16 Advanced Placement courses.

In May 2010, after two years of discussion with the community and retreats, the McPherson school board released their plan entitled, C3 – Citizenship, College and Career Readiness.This plan Was a non-negotiable position for the school board, and one that through collaborative goal setting, the entire McPherson staff supported. In June 2010, that plan was submitted to the Kansas State Board of Education and subsequently to the United States Department of Education.

In late February 2011, the United States Department of Education informed McPherson Unified School District 418 that they were granting a waiver from No Child Left Behind to the district to enact the locally designed, C3 – Citizenship, College and Career Readiness initiative.The department called the McPherson initiative bold, challenging, and one-of-akind in the United States.

The C3 work has three major components – Citizenship, College and Career Readiness. All parts of the district's initiative are equally important.

Citizenship Ready

Citizenship Ready is segmented into two overlapping areas: (1) Character Education and (2) Service to the Community.McPherson has partnered with Quantum Learning to provide the 8 Keys of Excellence to all the students. These “keys” will direct students to high levels of character development.

USD 418 strongly believes that students should demonstrate service to their school and community. In April of 2011,McPherson High School students organized a day called “The Big Event.” Students and faculty members volunteered to assist various churches, city departments, elementary schools, and other local organizations.This is but one small way that students in USD 418 schools provide important community service.

College Ready

USD 418 is committed to having every student “college ready” when he or she walks across the stage at graduation. College Readiness refers to the level of student preparation needed to be ready to succeed—without remediation— in an introductory level course At a two- or four-year institution, trade school, or technical school. USD 418 has worked extensively with ACT to enhance its college preparatory program for students.This includes incorporating college and career readiness standards into the middle school and high school curricula, as well as assessing students using the ACT suite of assessments in grades 6-12.

Career Ready

Being career ready involves having students explore their interests with assessment systems and participate in career fairs, job shadowing, internships and work-study directly tied to their career interest.McPherson USD 418 provides several career pathways for students to explore and prepare for future careers, including health sciences and pre-teacher preparation. Finally, through the ACT WorkKeys system, all students will gain a certificate, noting their success in being ready for careers in Kansas and across the United States.