Two District residents have been elected to the Kirkwood Board of Education in the April 2, 2013 municipal election. They are Marie Kelly and Darnel Frost. Mrs. Kelly and Mr. Frost will be sworn in at a reorganization meeting of the Kirkwood Board of Education on Monday, April 15. Board members serve a three-year term in office.

The unofficial results of the April 2, 2013 election as posted by the St. Louis
County Board of Election appear below.

DIRECTOR KIRKWOOD SCHOOL DISTRICT R-7
(Vote for 2)
(WITH 30 OF 30 COUNTED)
Marie Kelly- 4,260 32.41
Darnel Frost- 3,446 26.22
Antona Brent Smith- 532 4.05
Eric Christian Peterson- 2,304 17.53
Amy Russell- 2,577 19.61
Write-in- 24 .18

After winning the Kirkwood Board of Education municipal election, Marie Kelly and Darnel Frost share their ideas to achieve in the future to influence the district.

Marie Kelly:
As a Kirkwood resident for 18 years, Marie Kelly decided to run for the board as a way to influence the future education of Kirkwood students. After her children began attending Kirkwood schools, Kelly started volunteering at the PTO at Robinson Elementary School where she served as PTO president, secretary and treasurer. She has also helped with Staff Appreciation at Nipher Middle School and the Kirkwood Band Boosters. Her involvement includes serving on the KSD Foundation for seven years, two of which she served as president.
“I just want to give back and I want to work hard so that every single student gets the same great education,” Kelly said.
Kelly hopes to create student achievement in a few key ways. Her ideas include providing all students with academic excellence by hiring the best teachers, maintaining small class sizes and promoting individual-aimed instruction. She hopes to engage all school staff and citizens in open discussion about district processes and build cohesive relationships between the district citizens and their leaders.
“I think the biggest change is figuring out different ways to communicate to the community,” Kelly said. “I think there’s a lot of people who aren’t engaged in the schools who really don’t think about it until elections are coming about.”

Darnel Frost:
After recognizing the leadership that needed to be filled from the loss of two former board members, Darnel Frost took the initiative to bring his enthusiasm to the board with this election. Frost currently sends his three children to KHS and Robinson and has been thoroughly involved with KSD activities. As a coach and mentor for Kirkwood children, Frost has gained experience and developed relationships with the community that he hopes will benefit his plan to bring more communication between the board, KSD school staffs, and citizens.
“I know there are huge shoes to fill but I feel my knowledge of the district, as well as the relationships I have developed, help give me a true perspective of where we need to be as a district,” Frost said.
Frost has been involved with the UNITE Education Committee, Strategic Planning Committee, hiring committee for the Robinson principal, and taken part in social justice training with teachers of the district. With strong hopes to be seen as a face for communication between the administration with parents and students, Frost looks to enhance the development of those relationships. His goals include closing the achievement gap while providing every student with as much equal and fair access to every available resource the district has to offer to ensure their success.
“I believe the more we develop and maintain our relationships will be the key that will help us get from where we are to where we intend to be as a district and as a community,” Frost said.