Welcome to the Polo R-VII School District

On behalf of the board of education, administration, and staff, I want to welcome you to the Polo R-VII School District.  We are a PreK-12 campus that creates an environment of learning that is an instrumental part of our community.  Our students are amazing people whose talents shine every year in the classroom and in many extracurricular activities.  In POLO we use the following motto: Preparing Outstanding Leaders Of Tomorrow,  everyday to ensure that we are always doing our very best to prepare our students for life after they leave our hallways.

Once A Panther, Always A Panther!

Kyle Ross

Superintendent

From the Superintendent’s Desk

January 2025

Welcome Back Panthers!

I wanted to take this opportunity to tell all of our students, staff, patrons and alumni thank you for your time, investment, and support in our school district.  Everyday in our modern world brings new challenges and opportunities for our greatest commodity, which are our students.  As we get started in a new year we will look each day at where we are and then work on where we need to be as a district in each task that is asked of us.  I have always said that a test is only a small part of the picture you paint as a student.  The painting should illustrate not just growth, but how you grew and why you grew.  Each of those pieces are as essential as any other piece in your educational life.  So as a district we will try each day to commit our efforts to helping our district’s students produce the best version of themselves.  Recently a document was released by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) in Missouri, which I believe illustrates our district's commitment to those holistic values that our students, staff, alumni, and stakeholders hold in high regard.

The Missouri School Improvement Program (MSIP) is the mechanism used by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) for making recommendations for accrediting public school districts in Missouri. The process of accrediting school districts is mandated by state law and by State Board of Education regulation.  The latest version of the Missouri School Improvement Program (MSIP 6) is focused on continuous improvement for all schools, the preparation of each student for life beyond high school and promoting practices that lead to healthy school systems. MSIP 6 will take a closer look at what districts are doing to implement effective practices and sustain improvements, while increasing the focus on individual student growth. The Missouri School Improvement Program through the Annual Performance Reports (APR) provides district data for stakeholders. Beginning in 2024, the Department will also generate an APR Classification Composite Score each year, which averages three years of APR data. These reports serve as the primary basis for the accreditation classification of school districts and provide the district with data to help drive educational decision making processes. 

The majority of the Polo R-VII School District is located in Caldwell County.  Caldwell County shares a border with Carroll, Clinton, Davies, Dekalb, Livingston, and Ray Counties.  The list on the next page  illustrates the recently released  2024 MSIP 6 District/Charter Composite APR Summary Report for the 32 school districts that are found within our 7 surrounding counties and where the Polo R-VII School District ranked.  Once again this is a three year measure for all of the school districts in the state and will serve as a guide to help them navigate the ongoing requirements of MSIP 6 and a tool for our district to use for daily reflection and growth.

School District

Composite APR Score Percentage

Tina Avalon

88.9

Hale

88.2

Union Star

87.1

Polo

85.2

Winston

85

Cameron

83.5

Livingston RIII

83.5

Braymer

82.5

Norborne

81.9

Chillicothe

81.7

Lawson

81.3

Hamilton

79.6

Bosworth

79.3

Cowgill

79.1

Lathrop

77.7

Pattonsburg

77.4

Carrollton

76.7

Breckenridge

76.3

Kingston

76.3

Osborn

75.8

Maysville

75.7

SW Livingston

75.6

Plattsburg

74.7

Orrick

72.6

Gallatin

72.5

Stewartsville

71.1

Hardin Central

71

Tri County

70.3

North Davies

69

Mirable

66.6

Richmond

65.6

New York

58.1

Once A Panther, Always A Panther!

Kyle Ross

Superintendent

Polo R-VII School District