Welcome to the Rock Creek Web-site
by Dr. Darrel Stufflebeam
May 31, 2006
Thank you for visiting the Rock Creek Unified School District #323 web-site. Rock Creek includes the area surrounding the towns of St. George and Westmoreland and is the first school district to the north and east of Manhattan, which is the home of Kansas State University. We have almost 900 students and are growing rapidly. We have a K-6 elementary school in each of the aforementioned towns and a 7-12 school (Rock Creek Junior/Senior High School) half-way between those two towns on Flush Road.
In 2005, Rock Creek was named one of the five most effective and efficient school districts in the state. This is largely due to having state assessment scores being among the best in the state and having a local option property tax much lower than the state allow. In 2008 and 2009, we achieved the state Standard of Excellence on 22 out of 22 math and reading tests and each school received the Governor's Achievement Award for scoring in the top 5% in the state for both reading and math!
In 2009, SGES won the Kansas Challenge Award, which is bestowed upon only 10 schools and recognizes high achievement in spite of challenging obstacles like high numbers of free/reduced lunch students. Also in 2009, RCJSHS received the National Blue Ribbon Award and was the only high school in the state of Kansas to be nominated! This U.S. Department of Education award honors high student achievement and is the highest award a school can win in the U.S. Only 33 high schools and 11 middle schools in the nation were named Blue Ribbon Schools in 2009.
Our use of multi-age classrooms and cross-subject themes at the elementary level and a wide variety of innovative classes and programs at the secondary level have led to our school district mentoring several others in order to share our formula for success. In addition, our Alternative Compensation method of paying teachers has been copied or is being considered by several other school districts.
Rock Creek pays health benefits to both certified and classified employees, which is not a common practice among Kansas school districts. Finally, we have recently begun an instructional technology program that focuses on ceiling-mounted projectors, video streaming, Smartboards/Smartpads, and mobile computer labs. For these reasons and others, Rock Creek has a reputation for innovation and for being a terrific place to work, live, and earn an education.
Prior to serving as Rock Creek superintendent, I taught high school social studies for thirteen years and was a 7-12 principal for five years. I received a Bachelor's Degree in History from the University of Northern Iowa in 1987, a Master's Degree in Educational Administration from Fort Hays State University in 1995, and a Doctorate in Education from the University of Kansas in 2005.
My wife Jenny and I have a son named Sam (born in October, 2003) and a daughter named Sydnee (born in May, 2006). I'll try to keep the pictures in the above slide show up to date. Please don’t hesitate to call or e-mail me if I can be of any service and thanks again for visiting us.
