Education

Keep up with Columbia public schools

Below the overview of the district are links to KBIA's coverage of Columbia 93 district schools, updated as more stories are published. Columbia 93 at a glanceThe Columbia 93 school district currently includes 32 different schools. In 2014, the district had a k-12 enrollment of 17,204 students, which is 2% of the total k-12 enrollment for the state. Enrollment has been slightly increasing in recent years, 2% since 2011. While a small percent, that amounts to almost 400 more students. There have also been major re-drawing of attendance areas with the addition of Battle High School. Middle school attendance areas shape high school boundaries 00000178-cc7d-da8b-a77d-ec7d2f9e0000The changes have affected all schools in the district, including causing high school attendance to increase and overcrowding at one middle school at least.

Derby Ridge Elementary School welcomes new principal

KBIA | By Heidi Li

Published February 24, 2015 at 4:22 PM CST

The Columbia School Board appointed Kristi Shinn to be the new principal of Derby Ridge Elementary school this Monday.

Kristi Shinn is currently the principal of Main Street Elementary School in Troy, Mo, and she has 13 years of experience as an elementary principal and seven years as a teacher.

The Derby Ridge Elementary School’s hiring committee included school administrators, teachers and parents, all of who were impressed by Shinn’s rich experiences, said Michelle Baumstark, community relations director of the School Board.

“There were obviously a variety of things that they were excited about with regards to Ms. Shinn, one is her background experience working with Title I school, Derby Ridge is a Title I school,” Baumstark said. ”And doing that in a collaborative environment with both students, parents and teachers.”

Shinn’s successes as an instructional leader and administrator make her a good match for the position, said Peter Stiepleman, superintendent in a press release.

Shinn is also a doctoral student at William Woods University in Fulton, Mo. Shinn said her research in development of capable learners helps her in teaching students how to study actively.

“One of the things I worked very hard at Main Street is the students being able to identify their learning targets, and also be able to set goals towards those learning targets.” Shinn said. “So it’s having these quality conversations within the classroom of what they are studying and what they are doing, or how they are actively doing to being able to meet these goals.”

It’s hard to balance her administrative work and doctoral studies, Shinn explained. Her family is very supportive and she also works closely with her fellow educators in her doctorate program, Shinn said.

Shinn served as the president of the Missouri Association of Elementary School Principals from 2012 to 2013. Shinn will replace the school’s current principal Jeri Petre, who will be the principal of the new Battle Elementary School this fall, and she will start in 2015 to 2016 school year.