The partnership between Lisbon Schools and Kirkwood was discussed by the school board at the July 10 school board meeting.

Secondary principal Jack Leighty said that the majority of students at Lisbon take their Kirkwood classes online.

Composition 1 and 2 are college credit classes that are provided in house, and beginning in the 2025-26 school year, Lisbon will also have a speech class taught in house.

Kirkwood classes are available to students as a sophomore or higher, and students can take a total of two Kirkwood classes per semester.

“The majority of our students meet the requirements to be able to take classes,” Leighty said.

With Lisbon expanding career and technical education offerings in industrial arts, board member John Baker asked whether there will still be a need to send students to places like the Kirkwood Learning Academy.

Leighty said that the CTE classes will offer more opportunities for students to take those classes at Lisbon and gain experience in those trades, but if a student excels and wants to receive certifications for things like welding, Lisbon would encourage them to take a class at Kirkwood Academy.

Students taking advantage of the Kirkwood classes have the ability to transfer a number of college credits to other institutions of learning in the state. One student at Lisbon Schools graduated with their high school diploma and an associate of arts degree this past school year.

The trade-off for many students is that taking a class at locations like the learning academy takes up two periods of their school day, because of drive time to and from the class as well as the schedule not directly lining up with Lisbon.