New Barretts Principal Enthusiastic About Changes

Along with a new school year, Parkway's has a new principal: Kelli Moreton. As a first-year principal, Moreton said that her top priority is to build strong relationships with the community and make sure both parents and students know that her door is always open. 

Moreton, who holds a doctorate in education from , has taught for close to 20 years, including a yearlong stint in Petaluma, CA teaching a large fourth-grade class, a third of whom spoke only Spanish, she said.

She began her career in the and also taught in Valley Park. For the last three years, Moreton served as assistant principal at Parkway's in Ballwin. 

“You have to broaden your view, that’s for sure,” Moreton said about switching to an administrator role after 15 years of classroom teaching. “You’re always taking the students and their interests and their needs first, just like in the classroom. But you also have to broaden that view and think about the facilities that they are using and the transportation, certain things you take for granted when you’re just in the classroom.”

Moreton is taking over as principal at a time when a handful of changes have been made to the district’s scheduling. One of the most noticeable of these is kindergarten as 

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Moreton, the mother of two, high school-aged daughters, said that she can sympathize with parents who don’t feel ready to see their 5 and 6-year-olds leave home for a full day of kindergarten. But despite the reservations some parents may have, Moreton said she fully supports the switch to full day. 

“The longer we have them during the school day, the better the students will be prepared in the future. At that age, they’re always so open to learning and eager to learn that I think it’s a great opportunity to set them up for a bright future," she said. "But I can understand any mom or dad having a little tug of the heart at letting their little one be gone for the full day.”

Also new this school year, the school day starts across the entire district. 

Altough some of the elementary schools are starting at 7:45 a.m., Barretts starts at 8:55 a.m.

“A lot of that is about how we can get them off to the best start to their day and at the same time share transportation. It’s set up in tiers now, so there’s some different start times for elementary and middle schools so we are all sharing that transportation, but making sure that the kids' needs are being met too, and we’re getting them at the best time of day," Moreton said.

Moreton said that changing the start times was necessary to accommodate lengthening the school day by 20 minutes.

“It’s  taking advantage of how we can work that out neighborhood-wise, get everyone to school on time and still be economical,” she said.

Regardless of the reason behind the longer school day, Moreton said she has seen a slightly longer school day benefit other districts, and she and her staff welcome it. 

“The longer that we can have the kids here and keep them engaged and learning I think is better for everybody,” she said.

In addition to those districtwide changes, Barretts Elementary has undergone some renovations over the summer. The main office of the school has been completely renovated, as has the nurse’s office. The fourth-grade wing has undergone changes too, most noticeably the construction of new walls. 

“It’s very hard to have technology that’s up to date when you don’t have walls to plug into,” Moreton said. 

The renovations, part of the , are in their final stages and set to be wrapped up by the start of school on Aug. 16. 

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