kirk day school
Pencils poised … and write! The school’s support for maintaining handwriting as an essential learning tool is paying off. Avery Stanfill (pictured above) won the Top State Award for fifth grade for her penmanship skills in the Zaner-Bloser National Handwriting Competition. She also ranked second in the country for her grade out of 270,000 entries!

ladue school district
The Science Olympiad teams at both Ladue Horton Watkins High School and Ladue Middle School excelled at the national tournament in May, with many students finishing in the top 10 in various events. Ladue High finished 21 out of 60 teams, and LMS finished 14 out of 60.

Halls-Priorysaint louis priory school
Recent grad Matthew Travers is taking a detour (to China!) before heading to college at the University of Mississippi next fall. Travers was chosen as one of approximately 600 recipients nationwide for a National Security Language Initiative for Youth scholarship. The program, which places students in an immersion environment, works to increase the number of Americans who can interact with native speakers of critical languages and thereby promote opportunities in the private, academic and government sectors across cultures.

rossman schoolHalls-Rossman
Three graduating sixth-graders were honored with awards for special achievements: Davis Engler for the highest GPA in sixth grade; Isabella Sansone for displaying outstanding citizenship during her time at Rossman; and Steven Busch for his accomplishments in science. Sixth-graders also stole the spotlight at the National Geography Challenge. A combined average of the top 10 student scores earned them first place; fifth graders placed second. Pictured: Isabella Sansone, Davis Engler, Steven Busch

Halls-Whitfield-Schoolwhitfield school
Eighth-grader Abbie Mueller recently was crowned National American Miss Missouri Preteen 2016 after competing against 108 other contestants from across the state in interview, evening gown and personal introduction. She also was the overall winner in Volunteer Service for her work with various nonprofits in the St. Louis area, including her own charity to help local children in crisis, Abbie’s Helping Hands. Mueller will travel to Disneyland in California for a weeklong competition for the national title.