Our mission is to provide our students with opportunities to learn, be successful, and grow with proper encouragement and instruction in a safe, orderly environment under the guidance of a caring, professional, well-educated faculty and administration which will lead to the procurement of necessary skills to become productive citizens and society members.
Most of Chariton County school records dated before 1866 were destroyed by the Civil War. Since then, a few facts have been found in the History of Howard and Chariton Counties.
The first public school of Keytesville was organized after the Civil War. Sometime during 1891, a new school was built on the former location of the old Keytesville R-III Grade School. In 1901, school textbooks were adopted. To qualify as a first-class high school the school had to be in session nine months, offer 16 units of credit, and employ three secondary teachers. In 1909, Keytesville became a first-class high school.
In 1948, schools in the county were divided into districts. In 1949, Keytesville reorganized to include twenty-three (23) rural districts and one (1) high school district. Five (5) elementary schools and one (1) central high school were maintained. The official name of the school became Keytesville Reorganized School District No. 3.
Further reorganization and integration brought new school construction. Several new high schools were built in the county, including our own Keytesville High School in 1959. The elementary school was added to the high school in 1967.