Colyer brothers fight to stay at West

For many students, living close to their high school is a convenience. For junior twins Nehemiah and Joshua Colyer, the long bus bus ride from their unaccredited home district of Riverview Gardens is worth the opportunity to attend school in Parkway.

From 2013 to 2014, Riverview Gardens improved from a 28.6 to a 45.4 in the unaccredited range for schools.

Along with this, the school held a Parent Advisory Council meeting to introduce the district’s new superintendent and discuss the MSIP 5, which “is the state’s school accountability system for reviewing and accrediting public school districts in Missouri,” according to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

If the school does receive its accreditation, the boys would be expected to change schools their senior year and attend Riverview Gardens High School.

“It’s up for vote on whether they are going to get their accreditation back in June and if they do, they are going to try to get all of the kids that did transfer out and get them to come back. And it sucks to have to move the students back and yank them away from what they’ve been used to and where they’ve been for most of high school,” N. Colyer said.

Riverview Gardens’ test scores and student retention rate are exceptionally low, an environment which J. Colyer believes will not contribute to his success as a student.

“When I was at Riverview, the learning environment was not as good as it is now. There was a lot more fights. And in Parkway West you don’t really see that many fights for real and Parkway West is just an all around better school to go to,” J. Colyer said. “At West, they push you with more challenging and harder classes than at Riverview, where you can slack off the whole year and you can still pass with an A.”

Their father, Robert Colyer, started a petition online to sway the district to vote to keep them in Parkway. The petition currently has over 500 signatures.

“Calling a failing district accredited will not help the children who transferred NOR the children who remain there. In fact, it would be detrimental and immoral to force the transfer students to return to a district, as previously stated, with the LOWEST academics in the state,” R. Colyer said on the “Find a Way to Let Them Stay!” petition.

Parkway is ranked fifth out of the 520 Missouri school districts, while Riverview Gardens remains unranked. In addition to the academic excellence offered in Parkway, N. Colyer recognizes the valuable extracurricular opportunities.

“Here at West there are a lot more opportunities to get involved with school life and then as well stuff in the community too, and then academic wise I’d say the curriculum here at West pushes you a lot more than what we had at Riverview,” N. Colyer said. “You don’t really get a break. They drill it into you and they make sure you learn the content you’re supposed to learn.”

Members of the West community admire the Colyer brothers, including Kevin John, head boys track and field coach and math teacher.

“Nehemiah and Josh are both everything you could ask for as students, athletes, and people. They are humble, kind and hardworking,” John said. “They are truly grateful for every opportunity they have at this school.I could not pick out two better representatives of the track team. I am thrilled they had the opportunity to come to this school and I am very proud of the way they have flourished here.”

Along with teachers, the boys’ peers also support their petition to stay.

“Taking them away before their senior year would not only soil the connections they’ve made with teachers and peers, but it would also force them to start over for their senior year which is completely unfair,” junior Clay Bierk commented on the petition. “I’ve grown to be a better person because of these kids, whether by just hearing their stories or opening myself up to new and amazing people. I would be very upset if all of my friends had to return to a school that they can’t even call ‘home.’”

The Colyer brothers encourage their peers and teachers to sign the petition, which can also be found in N. Colyer’s Instagram @nehemiahcolyer, to help them and other students affected.

“These kids that are transferring out to these districts-they’re going to be future leaders, they’re going to be the workforce, they’re going to be what drives the country in the future. You shouldn’t just neglect those kids because they are not from the same area as you,” N. Colyer said. “It should be the mission of every school—every teacher—to try to better any student whether they’re from your district or from somewhere else in the city.”