Judge Henry McCune was the first juvenile court judge in Jackson County. He felt that jailing boys had a demoralizing effect on them and set out to establish a "parental home" where delinquent, neglected and orphaned boys, aged 8 to 18, could live in a family atmosphere while learning useful life skills. In 1905, the county court was given the authority to open an institution of this nature, so in 1907 they paid $9000 for a 100-acre tract that was part of the Winslow-Rogers farm east of Independence.
The original plan was that boys who were sent to the farm would stay with the headmaster for a 30-day orientation period or "until the rough edges were rounded off", and then would be integrated into a home on the farm that would have a housemother, housefather and 9 other boys. They would live like a family, with the mother cooking and doing the housework. The fathers would work around the farm doing various jobs, and the boys would attend school on the farm. Judge McCune's vision was for the boys to be reared on the farm by the house parents as if they were the sons of wealthy farmers. They were to receive an education, religious instruction and discipline. They would wear their own clothes, and there would be no guards on this farm. The boys were not to feel like prisoners.
The home opened on April 16, 1908, under the supervision of Professor James M. Taylor. In the beginning, the program operated in the original farm buildings. It was soon decided that they needed a school building, so the court built a temporary one. The Kansas City School District sent four teachers and many supplies to the farm. McCune's first day of school was October 15, 1908.
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Early History of the Fort Osage School District
We are told to remember where we came from. It is for that reason that so many research their ancestors and link back to their past. The school district is not unlike a family. Our rich history teaches us where we come from and how we became to be.
Our history began in 1948 when the State Legislature authorized a six-man board to reorganize school districts in Jackson County. On March 22, 1949, a tentative plan for consolidating the 83 school districts of Jackson County into 15 large districts was submitted in Independence to a meeting of county school boards members, clerks, superintendents and teachers. The plan included the districts of Independence, Raytown, Hickman Mills, Grandview, Center, Lee's Summit, Blue Springs, Sugar Creek, Buckner, Oak Grove, Grain Valley, Pleasant Valley, Boone and Districts A and B. Most notable in the area was the proposed Buckner district, comprised primarily of those school districts east of the Little Blue. Providing much of the leadership and direction for redistricting was Mr. H. M. Clements, County Superintendent of Schools.
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Buckner Elementary School |
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Blue Hills Elementary School |
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Elm Grove Elementary School |
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Indian Trails Elementary School |
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Fire Prairie Middle School |
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Osage Trail Middle School |
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Career & Technology Center |
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Lewis & Clark Learning Center |
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