Lewis & Clark Academy

Click the link below for information on the Missouri Options Program.

Missouri Options

Fort Connect is a program serving Fort Osage High School Students who learn best through discovery learning and may not find success in a more traditional setting. We believe innovative thinking is at the heart of connecting high school students with their career dreams and aspirations. Students in 9th-12th grade have the opportunity to participate in courses tied to the Missouri Learning Standards, while at the same time connecting directly with the community around them.  

Thriving partnerships with area businesses and community organizations offer students  competency based learning experiences, allowing them to earn credit toward high school completion while being immersed in the actual work of these organizations.  Students enrolled in Fort Connect have the same learning responsibilities as students in a traditional high school.  However, students who attend courses at Fort Connect are exposed to opportunities that provide Real World Learning experiences.  This will allow students to leave the program having achieved a Market Value Asset(s), industry valued and recognized skills acquired in high school that create a more seamless transition.

Fort Connect is an excellent experience for students who:

• Want to build upon their skillset in a real world setting while achieving high school credit

• Desire a different way to engage in learning experiences that are collaborative in nature through client-connected projects with community members as well as passion projects and service learning projects.

• Need a change of pace to better connect with learning and reignite their interest in school.

Fort Connect will also offer the Missouri Options Program for students who are seeking an alternative path to receiving their high school diploma. This allows these students the opportunity to work while also preparing for the assessment. Transportation is provided for participating students.  

Click here for the 2025-2026 School Improvement plan

In order to increase behavior support for students, we are transitioning the current Lewis & Clark Academy facility to a Behavior Support Center that will have the following classrooms: 

• One Elementary Behavior Classroom serving students in Kindergarten-4th grade

• Two Upper Elementary Behavior Classrooms serving students in 5th & 6th grades  

• Two High School Behavior Classrooms serving students in 7th-12th grades

• One Long Term Suspension Classroom 

We will provide counseling and social worker support to these students and are working on therapy being provided as well.

Students at the new Lewis & Clark Academy have historically struggled with maintaining appropriate classroom behavior and it has impeded their ability to participate in typical activities within their home school.  The focus of this new program will be to address students’ missing behavior skills and provide intensive social/emotional support with the goal for students to return to a typical classroom setting with replacement behaviors that enable them to be successful. 

Fort Osage historically had two Kindergarten-4th grade Behavior Classrooms that served students who needed focused support to develop both understanding of their missing skills as well as intentional practice to develop those skills. These students transition back to a regular classroom setting as soon as possible. These two classrooms will remain at Buckner Elementary.