LEOPOLD: SMALL SCHOOL SCORES BIG RESULTS

At left, Amy Nenninger, a sophomore, works on her Raggedy Ann doll in home economics class. At top, students move to another building between classes. Above, Jeff Turner takes his turn at the long jump as Coach Greg Hamm records the score.

LEOPOLD By almost every measure, Leopold Public School is small. Yet students from the tiny school district score big academic results.

"This school is in no way typical," said Superintendent Robert Turner. "We are one of the smallest districts in the state and our product is way above average.

The senior class at Leopold High School this year numbers only 11. The high school has an enrollment of 45, and the entire Leopold School District has 194 students.

"We offer a good, basic education," Turner said. "We don't offer a lot of extras, and that may be why our students have been so successful."

For six consecutive years, including this one, a student at Leopold has earned a Governor's Scholarship to attend Southeast Missouri State University. This top academic scholarship pays for tuition, room-and-board, and books at the university.

"Every senior took the ACT (college-entrance exam) last year, and they all scored above the state average," Turner said. Of the 11 graduates in 1990, nine entered college.

The district's operating budget for this year is just over $650,000. The district covers 35 square miles. Turner estimated that if he counted every man, woman and child living in the district, he might come up with 500. The biggest town in the district is Leopold, where 65 people live.

Greg Nenninger, high-school principal, social-studies teacher and volleyball coach, said: "Leopold is a little community that is proud of its school and proud of its heritage. And we're proud of our kids,"

Leopold is well known for its volleyball program. The volleyball teams have earned conference championships 10 of the last 11 years. The teams haven't had a losing season since 1978. They have made it to the final four in Missouri three times and finished fourth in the state each time.

"Volleyball is a lot like other things around here," said Nenninger. "It's a tradition. Everyone expects to do well, and we do; we also expect our students to do well, and they do.

"We're really like a big family here," said Turner. "It's more than just an attitude. So many people here are related to each other. We know every child and every child's background; we know these kids and where they're coming from."

The community is predominantly Catholic. St. John's Catholic Church is across the street from the school. The school district leases the former St. John's school building, which houses some elementary-school classes.

Three days a week, before school begins, the church conducts mass for students who wish to attend.

"I'm glad we live in a little town," said freshman Ruthy Looney. "The church, the KC Hall, the school and my house are all right here.

"You get to really know everybody," she said. "And the teachers help you a lot; they know you personally so they will help you more."

Bryan Deck, a freshman, said, "We get to do more class projects and the teachers help us a lot."

Bryan admitted he was often a class cutup. "Bryan used to try to be funny all the time, but he's starting to mature," Ruthy explained with the solicitous air of a sister.

Tonia Nenninger, a junior, said education is very important to her parents and parents of other students. "Some people, if their grades are down, their parents will come up here personally and find out what's going wrong," she said.

Heather Seiler, a seventh-grader, said: "My dad asks about my tests, and, if I have homework, he makes sure I do it right away. My dad also helps me study."

Matthew Pinson, a first-grader, said his mother and father are very interested in what he does at school. "My dad wants to know how good I did on my test. I made a 100," he said proudly.

Most of the students attend school with the same 10 or 15 children from kindergarten through high school. Jennifer Peters said the eight girls in seventh grade are all friends. "You have to be a pack; if you don't get along, you would just be alone," she said.

Seventh-grader Amy Vandeven said, "It's small, so everybody knows everybody." Tonya Broshuis, also in seventh grade, said, "I think I get more attention; teachers can spend more time with me."

The district employs 18 certified staff members, including the superintendent. As part of his duties, Turner supervises a study-hall period each day and often fills in as a substitute teacher.

All Leopold teachers earn the state-mandated minimum salary of $18,000. They do not receive health insurance or other benefits, and yet they stay. Eleven teachers at Leopold have never taught anywhere else.

"Why do we stay?" said Nenninger, who is among those who have never taught anywhere else. "We stay because of the small classes and because we get lots of support from parents. If you can't tell, I'm madly in love with this school."

Turner said: "I would say every teacher here is a top-flight teacher and could go to a larger district if they wanted. But I think they like the small class size, the supportive parents. The majority of kids are highly motivated to do well. We have a good, old-fashioned work ethic in this community, and we have relatively few discipline problems."

Only one new teacher was hired for this school year.

"We all do a lot of jobs around here," said Nenninger, who teaches five social-studies classes each day in addition to serving as principal.

The high-school mathematics teacher teaches all math courses, from seventh-grade general math through algebra 2. Same with the science teacher; the art teacher is also the district's counselor and teaches a section of seventh-grade English.

Gerald Jansen, industrial-arts-and-technology teacher, is a Leopold graduate. "This is my first teaching job," he said. "I enjoy the students here and the parents are really supportive. The parents are a major, strong point for this district."

Jansen is also a bus driver. The district runs three buses.

The home-economics teacher is also the business-education instructor and sponsor of the Pep Club. "We get a lot of support from home," said the teacher, Jenny Nenninger, wife of principal Nenninger. "And education is a priority at home; that makes a difference for us.

"We teach the basics," she said, explaining students have few choices when it comes to classes. "We have added some new classes, though."

For example, this semester four students are taking German by satellite transmission. A satellite dish was purchased this year, thanks to a new, state sales tax on video-cassette rentals. "Without the tax we wouldn't have the satellite dish," said Turner.

"We don't have a tremendous gifted program or special-education program," said the principal. "But you get special education in every class: you get a lot more attention when you are one of 14 instead of one of 25 or 30."

A tour through the district's three buildings reveals that most classrooms are equipped with computers and other specialized equipment. The items have been purchased through incentive grants available from the Missouri education department. The grants are awarded teachers with good ideas for improving education.

Teachers must write a proposal, which competes against proposals from other teachers across the state. The grant process is very competitive, but Leopold has been very successful: in one year the school was awarded eight grants. Without the grants, Turner said, the district could not afford to purchase such equipment.

The fourth-grade classroom, for example, has five computer terminals, all acquired through grants written by teacher Teresa Cooper, who is in her fifth year at Leopold. She has 16 students in her class this year; last year she taught nine.

She said, "It would be nice if we made more money and if we had benefits." But it would take more than that to lure her away. "If I left, I would loose this family setting and the one-on-one contact with students," said Cooper. "I would lose $15,000 in grant items, too."

So she, like most of the teachers and residents of Leopold, stay.

The principal said: "People don't come to Leopold accidentally; actually, there aren't many reasons to come to Leopold. People here were born here or married someone who was born here. But the people who are here are a great bunch of people, and we love our kids."