# Blue Springs R-IV School District

The Blue Springs R-IV School District is a school district that serves Blue Springs, Missouri in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The district has an enrollment of over 14,500 students. The mission of the Blue Springs School District, the champion for personal growth, is to ensure every student develops the skills and dispositions to thrive in a global community as a productive and collaborative citizen through innovative education distinguished by: rigorous, accessible learning experiences; diverse opportunities for involvement and leadership; and community partnerships that engage and support students and their families.
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education reported that Blue Springs School District once again received a perfect score on the Annual Performance Report in 2011. This is the eleventh year in a row that the district has received a perfect score. This is determined by a number of factors including student achievement. The Blue Springs School District is one of only seven school districts in this state to have eleven consecutive years of distinction.
The district also serves a small southwestern portion of Independence, small northern portion of Lee's Summit, all of Lake Tapawingo and parts of unincorporated Jackson County, Missouri.

## History

The community of Blue Springs was founded in 1845 near today's Burris Old Mill Park on Woods Chapel Road and Walnut Street. The town quickly discovered a need for a schoolhouse. The district was founded in 1845. Blue Springs town built its first wood-frame one-room school on Woods Chapel Road during this period. This schoolhouse was razed in 1884 and a new wood-frame one-room school was built at the same location.
In 1879 the railroad built a train depot one mile east of the original community of Blue Springs next to the new railroad tracks. The town moved to its present location to take advantage of the commerce the train depot would provide. The city of Blue Springs was incorporated as a city in 1880. The City of Blue Springs continued to grow as the old town declined as businesses and families moved to the new Blue Springs. The town children continued to attend the old schoolhouse in what became known as "Old Blue Springs" for some time.
In 1905 Blue Springs built its first two-story brick schoolhouse for the growing community. This school was built at 16th and Summit Streets. By this time, the old one-room schoolhouse on Woods Chapel Road in "Old Blue Springs" was still being used but was now considered a rural or separate school district rather than part of the Blue Springs "city" public schools.
The first brick schoolhouse was razed in 1924 after the 1923 opening of a larger new two-story brick schoolhouse. This brick school house was built adjacent to the old brick school house. This new school was simply called the Blue Springs School. All students of the Blue Springs School District attended first through twelfth grades at this school until 1951. The last graduating class from this school was the class of 1955. The school remained in use by the district until the 1990s and was later renamed Hansel Lowe School. It was eventually no longer used by the district and was sold to Timothy Lutheran Church. Timothy Lutheran Church used it as a school until they also built a new school. Today the school building is used as a private residence.
A practice of consolidating smaller school districts to eliminate one room school houses to better serve students was being completed across the state of Missouri. This happened in Blue Springs in 1949. That year an election was held and 10 one room school houses or smaller school districts joined Blue Springs 'city' Public School District to become the Reorganized Blue Springs Missouri R-IV School District. The schools consolidated were as follows: Pleasant Grove, Eureka, Sunny Vale, Williams, Fairview, Old Blue Springs, Sunny Side, Delta, Baird and Moreland.
The population growth of the City of Blue Springs increased the need for space for students. In 1951, Thomas Ulitcan Elementary School opened as the first designated elementary school in the district. In 1955 the current freshman center on Vesper St. was completed as Blue Springs High School. This was the district's first high school. The first graduating class of the new high school was the class of 1956. Franklin Smith Elementary School named for the founder of Blue Springs, opened its doors in 1967, as the second Elementary School in the district. The current Blue Springs High School opened its doors to students in 1971.
Since that time the district has continued to have rapid growth and has grown to have 13 elementary schools, 4 middle schools, 2 high schools, 1 alternative education center (containing middle, high, and GED programs), an early childhood/special education center, and a career center.

## Schools

Elementary
* Chapel Lakes Elementary School
* Cordill-Mason Elementary School
* Daniel Young Elementary School
* Franklin Smith Elementary School
* James Lewis Elementary School
* James Walker Elementary School
* John Nowlin Elementary School
* Lucy Franklin Elementary School
* Sunny Pointe Elementary School
* Thomas Ultican Elementary School
* Voy Spears Jr. Elementary School
* William Bryant Elementary School
* William Yates Elementary School
Middle Schools
* Applied Innovative Middle School (alternative)
* Brittany Hill Middle School
* Delta Woods Middle School
* Moreland Ridge Middle School
* Paul Kinder Middle School (formerly Sunny Vale)
High Schools
* Blue Springs North High School
* Blue Springs South High School
* Valley View High School (alternative)
The Blue Springs School District also offers the Liggett Trail Education Center which is a setting designed to address the needs of students from age 3 to 21 years with Special Needs or Disabilities. It is mainly an Early Childhood Special Education Center for 3- to 5-year-olds. Emphasis is upon school/parent communication, developmentally appropriate practices, specialized therapies and team approach that allows each student to work toward his or her potential.
As of 2024, the school district has also begun reconstructing parts of the former Blue Springs High School Freshman Center Campus for the production of an all new Career Innovation Center, or CIC. The CIC is a career centered school that focuses on profession-based learning to help prepare students for career and college through multiple Real World Learning opportunities. It currently offers over 19 programs in areas such as aviation (2), business (3), medical and health sciences (6), gaming and technologies (6), teaching and education (1), and hospitality and tourism (1).

## Notable alumni

* Brandon Lloyd, former professional wide receiver for the New England Patriots of the NFL
* Ladell Betts, former professional running back for the Washington Redskins of the NFL
* Jon Sundvold, NBA player and All-American college basketball player at the University of Missouri
* David Cook, 7th-season winner of American Idol
* Donald Stephenson, former professional offensive linemen for the Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos
* Steve Harris, former professional basketball player in the NBA
* Darius Hill, former professional football player in the NFL
* Elijah Lee, professional linebacker for the Cleveland Browns
* Deiondre' Hall, professional cornerback for the Chicago Bears
* Darrius Sheperd, professional wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs
* Nick Tepesch, professional baseball player in the MLB
* Lonnie Palelei, former professional offensive linemen in the NFL and XFL
* Kris Johnson, professional baseball player formerly in the MLB
* Connor Harris, former professional linebacker for the New York Jets, Arizona Cardinals, Cincinnati Bengals
* Khalil Davis, professional Defensive Lineman for the Pittsburgh Steelers
* Carlos Davis, professional Defensive Lineman for the Pittsburgh Steelers