SchoolSmartKC Organizes 10 Local Schools and Key Partners to Visit Communities in Schools Programs in Tulsa

SchoolSmartKC, in partnership with The United Way of Greater Kansas City and Turn The Page KC,  is hosting a one-day summit focused on reducing chronic absenteeism and strengthening the connections between schools, communities, and families. Heddy Chang, Founder and CEO of Attendance Works, will be the featured speaker and is considered to be one of the nation’s expert on reducing chronic absenteeism.  SSKC sees the mitigation of chronic absenteeism as part of a larger strategy to promote positive academic outcomes across our school system, and double the number of  KCPSS schools that outperform  or score within 10% of the state achievement average in the next 10 years.  For more information, contact Cokethea Hill at chill@schoolsmartkc.org

On March 7, 2017, SchoolSmartKC organized a charter bus tour to Tulsa, Oklahoma with the ten participating schools in the new Communities in Schools (CIS) program announced at the SchoolSmartKC launch. Participants included district and charter school leaders, administrators, teachers and school social support providers, as well as representatives from CIS, City Year Kansas City and SchoolSmartKC. The visit included guided tours of elementary, middle and high school CIS programs in Tulsa, led by CIS site coordinators and Tulsa school leaders. The visit also provided the opportunity for district and charter leaders to jointly engage school administrators and leaders from Tulsa Public Schools in a dialogue about best practices in integrating the CIS model and the improved attendance and academic outcomes they have seen through the program.

CIS is the first investment announced under SchoolSmartKC’s “Investing in Success” strategic pillar, designed to create the conditions for thriving, quality schools in our District boundaries. More information on the CIS investment can be found in our release upon the April 11 launch of SchoolSmartKC.