Downloadable Resources for Families & Educators
External Resources for Families and Educators
Build Engage Absorb – Beatrice Henry
As a parent representative on SchoolSmartKC’s Literacy Advisory Council, Beatrice Henry makes an impact on our ecosystem through her initiative, Build Engage Absorb (BEA). The Joy of Reading Project by BEA offers a weekly virtual story time, hands-on activities, family engagement opportunities, and guidance for parents, ensuring the learning continues beyond weekly story time sessions. Her role on the Advisory Council is crucial in guiding and supporting SchoolSmartKC’s strategic investments in early literacy.
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Turn the Page KC – Family Reading KC Initiative
Turn the Page KC’s mission is to mobilize the entire community to ensure children gain the literacy skills they need to create a lifetime of opportunity. We serve children and families through programming that centers the voice of the parent and increases access to literacy-rich opportunities across the city. Turn the Page KC continues to support literacy development through its Family Reading KC initiative, offering free resources that support families reading with their young children.
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Parent Leadership Training Institute
Developed by PLTI in partnership with Horizons Academy, this toolkit helps families understand early reading development and how to support strong literacy instruction in the early grades. It offers practical guidance for parents seeking clear information about curriculum, instruction, and how to advocate for effective reading support.
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SchoolSmartKC Resources for Families and Educators
Literacy for All Students
Literacy for All Students is a citywide initiative dedicated to ensuring every Kansas City child reads by third grade. Addressing the urgent need where only 26% of local third graders currently read on level, this program provides high-impact tutoring and expert classroom coaching to build a strong foundation for future learning.
Download the flyer to explore how this support works and learn how families can partner with schools for student success.
The PreK Cooperative
Providing students access to high-quality education in Pre-K is imperative. This early exposure contributes to improved long-term academic outcomes and elevated achievement levels. In Kansas City the availability of top-tier Pre-K options has been inconsistent.
In 2018, SchoolSmartKC established the Pre-K Cooperative to strengthen and elevate the quality of Pre-K
programs across our city, and since inception we have introduced over 700 Pre-K spots, with significant focus on neighborhoods with the greatest needs.
Download the flyer to explore how this support improves student success.
Team-Based Staffing
SchoolSmartKC believes that building capacity for educators in our public schools is essential to supporting teacher retention and job satisfaction – two critical factors in influencing classroom and student success. Starting in 2022, we have invested in bringing ASU’s “Next Education Workforce” model to schools in Kansas City. This new approach to team-based staffing has proven national results in increasing retention and job satisfaction of both new teachers and lead teachers, with educators reporting stronger academic outcomes for students learning in team-based classroom environments
Download the flyer to learn more about Team-Based Staffing.