SchoolSmart KC

09/02/2026

Thank you to Bellwether's team for the months they spent reviewing Literacy For All Students - design, partnerships, and implementation.

Three cohorts in, 15 schools, district and charter, side-by-side.

08/24/2026

10 months to 10 days.

How do we create environments where students can be their best?

For a family it means less to manage. For a student it means getting support without falling behind. For schools it means community supporting students where they already are.

The need was never in question. The schools were doing their part, and the agencies were doing theirs. What was missing sat in the space between them. A student showed a need in one system, and the care lived in another, too far apart to connect. In our SCMH partner schools the wait is now 10 days on average. Hear it from those closest to the work in this video.

Closing that distance is the systems work of SchoolSmartKC. We bring schools and agencies into one partnership, the School-Based Collaborative for Mental Health (SCMH), so care reaches students where they already are.

Starting Year 3 in partnership with Children's Services Fund of Jackson County - Support has reached 509 more students.

08/18/2026

A night to remember at The K!

A week ago, we had the honor of hosting our 8th Annual Excellence In Education Awards. There is a unique kind of magic in a room full of people celebrating the champions of Kansas City education.

To all Kansas City teachers, support staff, and leaders: thank you for your relentless commitment and dedication to our students.

Special thanks to our funding partners .

Here is a look back the best of the night and a look ahead to a strong year of learning!

08/12/2026

When community leads, student success follows!

$1 million from Kiewit brings Brookside Charter School into SchoolSmartKC's Literacy for All Students initiative, a citywide effort to accelerate literacy growth and proficiency with every Kindergarten – 3rd grade student in our Kansas City Public Education System.

A company that builds Kansas City is now helping build its next generation. Thank you to our partners at Brookside Charter School - Roger Offield and Kelly Sales, and Kiewit - Katie Vincent and Dan Lumma, for investing in our Students, our City, and our Future!

Corporation Kiewit donated $1 million dollars to Brookside Charter School for its Literacy for All Students program to help provide research-based resources.

08/11/2026

Kansas City, meet your 2026 Excellence in Education Award winners. 🎉 What a way to start the new school year!

On August 10, we honored these teachers, leaders, and support staff. They stand for the excellence you'll find in public school classrooms all across our city.

Congratulations to this year's winners - we're so proud of you! 💛 💛

08/06/2026

Smiles that don't quit.

Parents watching their grown children as educators be celebrated.

Laughter, cheers, the whole room celebrating our teachers, support staff, and leaders in schools.

Watch last year's Excellence in Education Awards - August 10, we do it all again!

City Public Schools Education Foundation

08/03/2026

This year's Excellence in Education finalists are here!

SchoolSmartKC and The Kansas City Royals Foundation are proud to celebrate our educators and support staff, because excellence lives here in Kansas City.

Meet the 2026 finalists at the link in the comments.
Winners revealed August 10. 💙

07/20/2026

07/14/2026

83% of our Pre-K students are ready for kindergarten. An all-time high for our PreK Cooperative!

That number is the sum of small things done well, again and again. The same coaches with the same teachers, month after month, for years. Teachers who stay, who grow, who trust the people beside them.

Our Senior Program Director, Kristina Collins, named it exactly right: consistency is what this looks like. Now in her 4th year of steady leadership at SchoolSmartKC, she turns that consistency into readiness that our youngest learners carry into kindergarten.

To Kris, to our instructional coaches, to every parent, teacher, and partner who showed up for our children: thank you, this progress reflects you!

83%, with 90% in our sights. Here we come!

06/26/2026