© 2024 University of Missouri - KBIA
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
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.

Two Columbia Schools Get New Principals

Torie Ross
/
KBIA

Two top administrative vacancies at Columbia Public Schools are now filled for this fall. CPS announced Hickman High School Assistant Principal Tony Gragnani will move up to principal of that school, while Battle High School Assistant Principal Melita Walker will be the new principal at West Middle School.

Gragnani has served as an assistant principal at Hickman since 2014. He says the relationships he’s built during his time there will be important when taking on his new job.

“I’ve had a lot of students coming up to me saying congratulations and that they’re excited, and same with the teachers and everything,” Gragnani said, “so I kind of go in already with those relationships built.”

Gragnani said he will mainly focus on continuity when he moves into the new position. One new issue on his radar is the one-to-one program, which will give each Hickman student a laptop to use during class. He said there are “a lot of logistics that have to be tackled” when putting the system in place, but the new technology will be worth it.

“For example, if you’re using it to Skype in to a classroom overseas or someplace else, that is something that technology provides us that we can’t do on our own,” Gragnani said.

Gragnani will replace Eric Johnson, whose move to the North Kansas City School District was announced in February.

Walker will replace Dustin Jenkerson, who also left for a job in another district. In a news release CPS Superintendent peter Stiepleman called her “a great addition to the leadership team at West Middle School.”