Puxico R-8 School District

We are had a BLAST at Big Truck Night! 🚜🚓🚒🧡🖤

Our 2026 Prom court included Abby Cookson, McKinzey Daniel, Aricks Robinson, Logan Crisel (not pictured), Jett Hancock, and Ben Melton.

Our 2026 Prom King and Queen are Abby Cookson and Ben Melton!

Good evening Puxico School Families and Staff,

We have been closely monitoring the weather forecasts and expected timing for today.

We will continue to keep you informed of any adjustments to the school day, as well as any decision to open the FEMA shelter, through our District Facebook page and text messaging system.

If conditions worsen and a tornado warning is issued, the FEMA shelter will be opened. Should this occur during the school day, students will be seated in a designated area separate from the public. All visitors will be expected to follow staff directions to help ensure the safety and organization of the shelter.
If you need to access the shelter, please help us maintain a safe environment by avoiding congestion at entrances and exits and by respecting personal space.

For everyone’s safety and comfort, weapons, alcohol, drugs, vapes, and tobacco products are strictly prohibited.

Pets are not allowed in the safe room during the school day. After school hours, pets must be confined in an owner-provided carrier.

We appreciate your cooperation as we work to keep everyone safe.

The 25-26 Athletic Banquet will take place on May 14th at 6pm in the cafeteria. Forms must be turned in to Mrs. Hood by May 1st. We need this done for an accurate food count. This night will be about recognizing our student athletes!

We are so excited and proud of our Elementary art students , we had 16 students grades Kindergarten through 6th grade that won a place in the 4H farm contest! It was so hard in choosing the ones to send in to be judged because everyone did so good and worked so hard!

Puxico R-8 School District welcomes Robert “Bobby” Harmon to the Board of Education. Bobby fills the seat vacated by Chad Payne, who served the district for 18 years. The district sincerely thanks Mr. Payne for his many years of dedicated service to Puxico R-8 and its students.

The district also swore in board members beginning their new terms: Randy Stephens, Bobby Harmon, and Steve Crisel. Following the oath of office, the board reorganized.

Board officers are as follows:
Randy Stephens, President
Steve Crisel, Vice President
Michael Clubb, Secretary
Brad Watkins, Treasurer
Board members:
April Burchard
Joe Hodges
Bobby Harmon

Puxico R-8 School District appreciates each board member’s willingness to serve the district, its staff, and its students.

Puxico Jr. High and Puxico High School also had an amazing showing in the Stoddard Co Art Show!!

We are so proud of our talented students and their teachers school wide. Congratulations to all!

Below are the ribbon earners for the Jr. High and High School.

Braylee Fowler 7th grade -1st place
Andrea Clark 9th grade- 1st place
Lilah Porter 9th grade- 2nd place
Jake Jackson 10th grade-1st place
Grant McMillian 11th grade- 1st place AND Best in Show!
Tyler Fortner 11th grade 3rd place
Dominick Allen 11th- Honorable mention
Cadence Rivet 12th grade-1st place
Cheyann Isaac 12th grade- 2nd place

Artwork will be on display in the old courthouse in Bloomfield during normal business hours all next week and 1st-3rd places will be showcased at the Margaret Harwell Museum in Poplar Bluff at the Regional Art Show on Tuesday, April 28th

Register for PHS Summer School! You can register online at https://tinyurl.com/PHSSummer2026 or pick up a paper form in the high school office.

Our 2nd graders brought history to life with their very own Living Wax Museum! 🖤🧡

Students researched historical figures and teamed up with our 4th graders to create speeches and posters. They proudly presented their projects to the entire elementary school and then wowed our community with an evening performance!

We are incredibly proud of the hard work, confidence, and collaboration these students demonstrated. What an amazing learning experience!

A big THANK YOU to our 2nd grade teachers for creating such a meaningful and engaging opportunity for our students. 👏

Great job, everyone!

We are so proud of our 5th grade students for graduating from the D.A.R.E. program! 🖤🧡

This program teaches our students important life skills, decision-making, and how to make safe and responsible choices. We couldn’t be more proud of the growth they have shown!

A big THANK YOU to Officer Jason and the Stoddard County Sheriff’s Department for always supporting our kiddos and providing such a meaningful learning opportunity. We appreciate your investment in our students and our school!

Congratulations, 5th grade!

Come enjoy the updated complex, including the new shade structures made possible through the grant writing efforts of Mr. Garrett Payne, along with the extra hands and dedication of our maintenance crew, school board members, and Clay Miller.

Behind the scenes, a lot of work has gone into getting everything ready for spring. The District appreciates many partnerships but especially the support and follow up of board member, Steve Crisel. From hanging batting cages to freshening up the entire complex, our coaches, maintenance crew, and school board members have put in countless extra hours to make this a place our kids—and our community—can be proud of.

👏 Special thanks to:
Steve Crisel, Jim Clark, Chad Payne, Shawn Haynes, Brandon McMillan, Aaron Thurston, Don McRoy, and Brandon Crook. Another shout out to Barry Beecham, Michael Owens, Blake Helm, The Green Grass Guys, and Advanced Turf Solutions. A shout out to Michele Owens for all the behind the scene work with the digital programs (see pictured below).

It is always exceptional when a school is well supported by the community, the Puxico Booster Club, and those interested in providing great opportunities for our students. On behalf of our students and visitors to the facility, we say thank you!

👏 And a big shoutout to Scott Jones for holding things down across campus while all that work was happening!
Let’s pack the stands, support our players, and enjoy a beautiful day at the field.

Let’s Play Ball! ⚾🔥
#GoPuxico 🧡🖤

Mrs. Smothers 6th grade Social Studies classes got their creative hats on this week and recreated the different types of government using gummy bears!

Puxico High School would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Brock Williams for serving as our guest speaker at this year’s Highest Honors Banquet. Your words were both inspiring and meaningful to our students as they celebrate their achievements.
We would also like to recognize and thank our parents and families. Your constant support, encouragement, and dedication play a vital role in the success of our students. These accomplishments would not be possible without your hard work behind the scenes.
It was a wonderful evening celebrating the commitment, perseverance, and excellence of our students.

🎶🧡🖤 What an AMAZING day for our band! 🖤🧡🎶
Our students represented us so well at the district-wide band concert , and we couldn’t be more proud! Their hard work, dedication, and countless hours of practice truly paid off. 🎺🥁🎷
It’s always incredible to see their growth—not just as musicians, but as confident performers. They gave it their all and sounded fantastic!
Way to go, band! Keep making us proud! 👏🎶
#PuxicoPride #FutureMusicians #HardWorkPaysOff

⚾️ What a beautiful day for the Puxico High School Baseball Home Opener! With a large crowd in attendance and great energy in the stands, it was an exciting game from start to finish. Although the Puxico Indians came up just short with a final score of 4–5, the team battled hard and made it a great game to watch.
Thank you to our amazing community for your continued support of Puxico Baseball — your encouragement means so much to our players and coaches! 🧡🖤⚾️ We appreciate everyone who came out to cheer on the Indians, and we look forward to seeing you at the next game!

From Puxico R8 On Wednesday, March 18, we will have Class and Club photos throughout the day. Please dress appropriately.

Junior Beta State Convention 2026
It was another great year for our Junior Betas! Puxico Junior High had 35 students attend convention where they competed in 27 categories and Julian Crabb running for MO Jr. Beta Vice President. After three days, Puxico Jr. Beta walked away with 9 plaques and the new State Vice President!
Congratulations to our winners! 🏆
Jaley Copling 2nd place Performing Arts
Cole Davis 5th Place Computer Science
Luke Hueckel 2nd place US History
Lucas Foster 3rd place Math
Braylee Fowler 5th place Drawing
Bristyl Ramey 1st place Cake Decorating
Layla Stewart 2nd place Speech
Gage Armstrong 3rd place Recyclable Art
Jerren Spain 4th place Spelling
Campaign Skit 1st place
Julian Crabb State Vice President
Puxico Junior High is proud of all of our Junior Betas students who competed at State Convention! A special thank you to all the sponsors, additional chaperones, parents, and everyone else who made this year a huge success!

All District Honors deserve a shout out!
Congratulations, we are proud of each of you and thank you for all the hard work and dedication!

Congratulations to Brayden Zych on an amazing showing at this year’s state CDC! He placed FIRST in Poetry-Spoken Word, AND he earned the Southeast Representative State Officer position. We’re all so proud of you, Brayden!