Dear Parents, Patrons, and Community Members:

Having been an administrator in the Ash Grove R-IV School District for 15 years has given me many opportunities to see and know what an excellent school system we have here in Ash Grove. Because I personally know our schools’ many great attributes, I forget that there are many things about our schools of which the general public may not be aware. As I started listing some of the many outstanding qualities and achievements of our school district, the list became longer and longer. It finally became clear that I would need to “categorize” these achievements into different lists. What eventually came from this process is three lists: 1) Ash Grove Academics and Awards; 2) Ash Grove Educational Programs, and 3) Ash Grove School Finances. While many might consider many of the items on these lists to be “general knowledge”, several items on each list will undoubtedly be very surprising to many readers. I hope you enjoy finding out about the Ash Grove R-IV School District. I know that I enjoyed gathering the data and putting these lists together. The “lists” will be published on three consecutive weeks in the newspaper. If you want to see the complete list early, we will post it on our website at http://www.ashgrove.k12.mo.us/. In this first installment, we’ll start by highlighting the things you may or may not know about Ash Grove Schools’ Academics and Awards.

Dr. Don Christensen

Superintendent of Schools

Ash Grove R-IV School District