KCPS Community Newsletter

KCPS families,

We are excited to share that KCPS has reached an agreement for Zum to take over student transportation starting next school year.

Zum is a modern, tech-forward student transportation company that will offer safe & reliable services to our students & families. Through Zum, KCPS students, families, drivers and school administrators will receive state-of-the-art service and peace of mind that comes from enhanced safety features, transparency and increased technology.

Zum's buses prioritize advanced safety features and family-focused service. Through the Zum app, parents will be able to view a profile of their child's bus driver, along with real-time tracking and notifications about their school bus location, and their child's pickup or dropoff status. Zum also allows administrators to optimize routes and provides staff with real-time data and performance reports.

Additionally, Zum is committed to working with KCPS and key stakeholders to develop a plan to transition the school bus fleet to electric. Zum is the first and only 100-percent carbon neutral student transportation company in the U.S., and through its Net Zero Initiative, the company is leading in electric school bus conversion.

School bus drivers are at the center of Zum’s service. Zum offers higher wages and modern benefits for all drivers and staff, as well as top-of-the-line buses, equipment, and technology to enhance safety and comfort for students and drivers, and make drivers’ day to day jobs easier and more enjoyable. Zum supports its drivers and staff with advanced training and certification programs to ensure they not only meet or exceed all state and federal requirements but also receive extensive ongoing training.

To learn more about how Zum is working with thousands of schools across the nation to deliver safe, reliable and modern student transportation, please visit Zum's website here.

It's Teacher of the Year season!

As you may have noticed, we've begun highlighting our school-level Teachers of the Year on social media, and will continue to do so between now and April 18's Teacher of Year Gala, in which one amazing educator will be recognized as the districtwide Teacher of the Year!

Join us throughout this journey as we introduce you to these great teachers and tell you what their colleagues have to say about them!

Click here to see the list of building-level Teachers of the Year.

We want to give a special shout-out to our awesome & talented Central High School Robotics team, 8825-Team Eagle Eyed, who came in 4th Place in this past weekend's Heartland Robotics Regional!

We want to give special acknowledgment to John Gooden, Eliseo Thomas, Coltin Ferguson, Malachi Williams Lindsey, Gabriella Morris, Mehwish Aziz, and Samuel Gooden for their hard work and dedication.

We'll keep you updated as the team competes in the next event, the Greater Kansas City Regional, April 4-6, in Lee’s Summit.

Thank you to our amazing sponsors, Justin Reid's J Reid Indeed Foundation, the KC STEM Alliance & U.S. Engineering.

In our continued emphasis on child literacy as an avenue to open doors of opportunity, we are highlighting some new schools each month that embody the Social-Emotional Skill of the Month.

Our KCPS Loves To Read Social-Emotional Skill of the Month for March is: Courage!

These students embody courage by having the strength to stand up for themselves, others, and take action when needed.

KCPS Loves to Read is a reading campaign designed to connect literacy and social-emotional learning to motivate students to read. Each month, our students will build on important social-emotional skills and character traits that will develop them as readers and leaders in their community.

Our KCPS Loves To Read spotlight schools for March are:

• Border Star Montessori
• Central Middle School
• Garcia Elementary
• Global Academy
• Lincoln College Preparatory Academy
• Wendell Phillips Elementary
• Phillis Wheatley Elementary

Click here to read more about the KCPS Loves to Read initiative, along with a family guide designed to provide students & families with tips for strengthening literacy and activities that support your child's social-emotional wellness.

Central Middle School has been celebrating its Centennial all week, culminating in a special event this Friday at noon, which includes an alumni meet & greet and great activities!

We've also set up a beautiful Central Middle School 100 Years banner in the auditorium for students, staff & community members to snap a pic in front of if they'd like.

"100 Years Strong: Where The Grind Never Stops at Central Middle School!"

Join us for the Centennial Alumni Meet & Greet at Central Middle School this Friday from noon to 1:30 p.m. We're extending a heartfelt invitation to all Central Middle School Alumni to reconnect and reminisce at our alma mater.

Activities:

1. Networking and Fellowship: Enjoy reconnecting with old friends and making new connections.
2. Yearbook and Artifact Sharing: Bring along your cherished yearbooks, photos, and any other memorabilia to share and reminisce about your time at Central Middle School.
3. Light Refreshments: Indulge in delicious snacks and beverages while swapping stories and memories.
4. Centennial Tribute: A brief tribute to honor the rich history and legacy of Central Middle School over the past century.

Don't miss this special opportunity to be part of Central Middle School's history. Mark your calendars and spread the word!

It's Social Worker Appreciation Month, so we want to give a HUGE THANK YOU to our clinicians and the social workers who help guide our students, families & staff. You are amazing, and a thousand thank yous wouldn't be enough.

Families, please join us in celebrating these awesome individuals not just this month, but always. And may we never take them for granted.

KCPS families,

The 2024 “Pass the Torch” Superintendent Scholarship window is now open!

Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Collier looks to “Pass the Torch” by awarding a special opportunity to graduating seniors wishing to become our next generation of enthusiastic educators, counselors, or other career professionals working with young people in the school setting. Our district wishes to encourage current seniors to join our forces and become the leaders who will inspire our K-12 students.

The scholarship gives $1,000 directly to the student for any travel or college costs. Additionally, KCPS scholarship recipients may receive up another $1,000-$5,000 to cover tuition paid directly to the educational institution.

Graduating high school seniors in our system are asked to apply by Friday, May 3, 2024.

More info & submission link here.

We are so excited to host Summer Academy once again this June, giving our students and families high-quality education options, no matter your child's age.

Registration is now open & will remain open until May 3. Click here to learn more and register.

SUMMER ACADEMY 2024 KEY FACTS

• June 5-28 (no school on June 19)
• Before & after-school care provided at all elementary summer academy sites.
• Breakfast & lunch provided at all sites.
• Transportation provided for all sites.
• 12 Summer Academy sites.

Summer Academy last year brought our students awesome hands-on projects, critical-thinking experiences, enlightening field trips and new worlds to explore.

So enroll now! We can't wait to see you at Summer Academy 2024!

Fine Arts is a major focus of KCPS, in our growing mission to best equip our students for current & future success!

From elementary band & orchestra to fine arts & performance expansions, we are committed to bringing the joy of the arts into the hearts and households of all our students, staff & families!

Join us for the KCPS Fine Arts Festival, coming up April 13-17. We will be in touch on more information on what this will look like, and how you can participate.

Thank you!

Our Central High School boys basketball team just finished an incredible run at the Missouri Class 4 State Tournament, notching a few victories, making the semifinals, and finishing 4th overall!

We are incredibly proud of our Blue Eagles and the way the players & coaches comported themselves all season and into the postseason. They showed class on & off the court, along with an immense measure of talent!

But the story doesn't end there for our Blue Eagles. Shortly after the State Tournament, word came down that our team received several recognitions for their hard work during the season, including:

• District Coach of the Year: Coach Michael Gholston, Jr.
• First Team All-District: Tim Wooden, Jr.; Brandon Moore; Darren McHenry

We know the team will be right back here next year, and that all of the players and coaches will continue to cultivate success in basketball and in life!

Over 1,000 students will visit the Anita B Gorman Conservation Discovery Center in the coming weeks as part of the partnership between KCPS & the Missouri Department of Conservation!

These nature classes are both fun & educational avenues for our students to learn about wildlife, plants and other aspects of the natural world. From handling (harmless) snakes & turtles to examining bird beaks & skulls, this is hands-on learning that goes Beyond Four Walls!

Banneker Elementary kicked off the initiative last week. Read more about this awesome opportunity for our students, and check out some of the recent photos.

Thank you to KSHB-41's Kevin Holmes, Cynthia Newsome & Megan Abundis for giving our students ‘The Gift of Sole’!

Through this awesome initiative, nearly 200 of our Northeast High School students received free sneakers at a special event last week!

‘The Gift of Sole’ and its supporters raised over $76,000 earlier this school year to provide new shoes for over 1,200 kids across Kansas City!

KCPS students from different backgrounds & cultures---while sporting different thoughts and ideas---converged on Northeast High School's Media Center last week, all driven to provide innovative solutions to real-world issues.

As a microcosm of this effort, these students were given a task: To create a proposal in conjunction with Box Tops For Education that highlights an educational issue and uses the initiative to fulfill a need while addressing the issue.

The project was part of the 3DE program, a national initiative that seeks to give high school students hands-on experience addressing real-world issues. While the program spans schools across the country, Northeast High School's 3DE program is the only one of its kind in Missouri.

KSHB-41 News was on-hand for the 3DE/Box Tops event last week. Click here to read their story and watch the accompanying video.