Safe and Caring Schools
The health and safety of our students, staff members and our entire community will always be a top priority in Rockwood. To help ensure the safety and security of our school communities, we recognize the importance of implementing a multi-pronged approach to maintaining safe, caring school communities, emphasizing mental health services, security measures, organizational partnerships and building strong relationships between our students, staff members, families and community partners.
Safety and Security
The health and safety of our students, staff members and our entire community will always be a top priority in Rockwood. To help ensure the safety and security of our school communities, we recognize the importance of continually collaborating with emergency management officials to ensure best practices are implemented for school safety; reviewing and evaluating the district's comprehensive safety plan; and providing professional learning on safety for staff at all levels. This includes districtwide options-based response so that staff members are prepared to lockdown, barricade and evacuate students to a safe location outside the school building during an intruder alert.
For the 2023-2024 school year, the Rockwood School District has added one safety officer for each of our four quadrants. These officers are armed and assigned a marked district vehicle. Their primary focus is covering elementary schools within their assigned quadrant, and they work in tandem with our existing 13 school resource officers (SROs).
Character Education
Rockwood believes strongly in the importance of character education and has received numerous awards for its work in this area. This is an important variable as the district focuses its efforts on doing whatever it takes to ensure all students realize their potential.
Rockwood National Schools of Character include Babler, Ballwin, Blevins, Bowles, Chesterfield, Crestview, Ellisville, Fairway, Geggie, Green Pines, Kehrs Mill, Kellison, Lafayette, LaSalle Springs, Pond, Selvidge, Stanton, Uthoff Valley, Wild Horse, Woerther and Rockwood Early Childhood Education. Kehrs Mill, LaSalle Springs and Wild Horse were named National Schools of Character in May 2023.
Rockwood Missouri Schools of Character include Babler, Ballwin, Blevins, Bowles, Chesterfield, Crestview, Ellisville, Fairway, Geggie, Green Pines, Kehrs Mill, Kellison, Lafayette, LaSalle Springs, Marquette, Pond, Selvidge, Stanton, Uthoff Valley, Westridge, Wild Horse, Woerther and Rockwood Early Childhood Education. Chesterfield, LaSalle Springs, Marquette and Wild Horse were named State Schools of Character in January 2023.
This year, Eureka Elementary, Green Pines and Lafayette all earned Promising Practices Awards from Character.org. Each year, the organization recognizes schools and districts from the U.S. and across the globe for their innovative practices in the area of character education. To receive a Promising Practice award, schools must demonstrate how they put one or more of the 11 Principles of Character Education into action.
The WEB program (Where Everybody Belongs) is active in middle schools and high schools. Older students mentor younger students and model lessons in character education, anti-bullying and positive school climate.
This year, the Educational Equity and Diversity Department has initiated character puppet shows at district elementary schools that teach and reinforce positive character attributes, and the department is relaunching the Anti-Bullying Ambassadors program in which students take the lead in recognizing and stopping bullying and spreading awareness of the issue. Rockwood counselors teach students about the different roles involved in bullying behaviors and how to stand up to negative peer influence. Empathy, the opposite of bullying, is modeled and encouraged in students through student-led service training, buddy activities, school-family groups and peer and adult mentors. Most importantly, conflict resolution skills provide students with skills to solve problems peacefully.
Community Support
Since 2000, the Rockwood community has raised more than $1 million for the American Cancer Society through its annual Relay For Life event. Over the years, Rockwood has also raised nearly $2 million for the American Heart Association through the Kids Heart Challenge and American Heart Challenge.
Rockwood schools host multiple Special Olympics sporting events throughout the course of the year, and all four high schools host Best Buddies chapters, as well as some of their feeder middle and elementary schools.
Rockwood also regularly interacts with our community in meaningful ways through programs such as:
- Partners in Education (PIE): PIE facilitators collaborate with volunteers willing to share their expertise or special talents with our students. This community cooperation enhances curriculum and affords our students a real-world view of what their future might look like.
- Parkway-Rockwood Community Education: This partnership offers a broad range of programs and services for youth and adults in several areas, including aquatics, adult education and literacy, enrichment, outdoor education, school-age care, sports and visual and performing arts.
- Rockwood Early Childhood Education: Rockwood Early Childhood has a longstanding reputation for excellence in educating children from birth to kindergarten with resources such as Parents As Teachers, screenings, preschool, diagnostics and special education for all members of our community.
- Rockwood Gives Back: This group of volunteers supports Rockwood students and families in need, cultivating a spirit of generosity and donations, connecting families with services to strengthen our school district and developing a districtwide culture of support for our children.
(Page updated Dec. 2023)