John R. Kirk was born to George and Mary Jane Kirk on January 23, 1851 on a farm in Bureau County, Illinois. The Kirk family moved to a farm in Harrison County, Missouri in 1856.4
At the age of five, Kirk began his education at Eagleville Rural School in Harrison County. He graduated from Bethany High School in Harrison County.4
After passing the required examinations, 19-year-old Kirk began teaching at the Eagleville Rural School.4
Kirk attended the First District Normal School in Kirksville, Missouri. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Didactics in 1878 and a Master of Arts in Didactics in 1880.4
During his time at the Normal School, Kirk developed a warm relationship with the Normal School President, Joseph Baldwin.4
Baldwin considered Kirk the most promising student at the School and capable of one day holding the office of State Superintendent of Schools in any state.4
In preparation for running to be a superintendent, Kirk earned a law degree from the University of Missouri. He practiced law for less than a year before he became the State Superintendent of Schools for Missouri in 1895.4
As superintendent, Kirk visited hundreds of public schools throughout Missouri. He was greatly alarmed at the run-down state of one-room schools in rural areas.4
Kirk declared that the single most pressing mission in Missouri education should be improving the quality of education in rural areas.4
Kirk traveled extensively across the United States in search of the “ideal model rural school” but did not find one. He served as the State Superintendent of Schools in Missouri until 1898.4