Kickapoo High School (Springfield, Missouri)

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Kickapoo High School is a high school in Springfield, Missouri. In 2002 it had 1,774 students and 96 teachers. Kickapoo opened in 1972, and is the fifth of Springfield's five high schools. It is named "Kickapoo" after its location in a part of Springfield known as the "Kickapoo Prairie." The School's mascot is the "Chief".

The school's characteristics include: Honors and Advanced Placement courses, an Orthopedically Handicapped Program, a Learning Resource Center for special-needs students, and a Japanese language program.

The school makes use of mandatory identification badges for all students and staff to prevent unauthorized entry into the school. This policy is heralded as an important part of building security by some, and also a needless frivality by others. The 'ID badges' as well as school-wide video surveillance were introduced following a series of nationwide school shootings in the late 1990s.

The school schedule is a four block system. That is, students attend the same four classes for an entire semester, then switch to four different classes for an entire semester. At the end of the year, students have completed the equivalent of eight year-long classes.

The 2004-2005 school year saw the introduction of a program called 'Chief Time.' This modified the school schedule, and the school day was extended significantly. An extra block, formally called 'intervention,' was added between second and third block every Tuesday and Thursday. The beginning of the school day on Wednesdays was delayed in order to add time for detention and for students to make up missed tests.

Intervention, or Chief Time, is a flexible block. Students are allowed to do different things during this block, depending on their status in a ranked system. The lowest rank, "Brave," is automatically given to Freshmen, Sophmores, and first-semester Juniors. Students with this rank must remain in their assigned Chief Time classes and work silently. The next rank, "Warrior," is automatically given to second-semester Juniors and all Seniors. Students with this rank are allowed to leave their Chief Time classes and go to the cafeteria for early lunch or to the gym for free activity time. Although it is stated that students with this rank are permitted to leave for lunch several minutes early, this rule is often overlooked by teachers.

The highest Intervention rank, "Chief," is for those Juniors and Seniors who have applied and been accepted to be "Freshman Mentors." These students are charged with assimilating small groups of freshmen into the school culture. They also assign rudimentary study skill and research tasks to all freshmen. Chiefs are allowed to leave several minutes early from school, leave early for lunch, and walk freely around the school without a written hall pass. Additionally, Chiefs are given preferential parking near the front door of the school. The heavy incentives for Chiefs are generally disliked by the student population, since Chiefs are virtually indistinguishable from students with Warrior cards in terms of actual responsibilities.

Students may be demoted to a lower rank due to behavioral or academic problems. Students with extreme academic issues can be assigned to a Chief Time class where they receive tutoring for the duration of Chief Time. Students in these rooms are, in practical terms, the only group lower than Braves in terms of freedoms during Chief Time.