Month: February 2015

Kindergarten roundup set for April 16 at all Kansas City, Kan., Public School elementary buildings

Enrollment time is here for kindergartners starting school in the Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools (KCKPS) next fall.

On Thursday, April 16, all KCKPS elementary schools will be holding Kindergarten Roundup sessions. Parents with children who will be five years old on or before August 31, 2015 should take this opportunity to enroll them for the 2015-2016 school year.

Kindergarten Roundup is for both parents and children. Activities taking place during the sessions differ from school to school, but children will be given the opportunity to get acquainted with the kindergarten teacher(s), and learn about going to school, while parents complete the necessary paperwork. In many instances, translators will be provided.

Dates and locations for preschool enrollment for the 2015-16 school year are listed below. Parents with questions should call 913-627-5257.

Parents should bring the following information with them for kindergarten enrollment:
• Their child’s state birth certificate (must be the original, not a copy)
• Their child’s current immunization records
• Proof of a recent physical for their child
• Proof of address (such as a utility bill or lease agreement with the parents’ name on it)

Times and locations of the enrollment for each school are listed below:

Banneker Elementary
2026 N. 4th St.
April 16, 2015
9:30 to 11 a.m.
1:30 to 3:00 pm
Contact: Dionandre Josenberger
627-4700

Bethel Elementary
7850 Yecker
April 16, 2015
9:30 to 3 p.m.
Contact: Michael Sechler, Interim
627-3000

B. Caruthers Elementary
1100 Waverly
April 16, 2015
10 a.m. to noon
1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Contact: Molly Struzzo
627-4750

Claude Huyck Elementary
1530 N. 83rd St.
April 16, 2015
10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Contact: Colleen Dudley
627-4650

Douglass Elementary
1310 N. 9th St.
April 16, 2015
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Contact: Leala Taylor
627-5100

Emerson Elementary
1429 S. 29th St.
April 16, 2015
1:30 – 3:30 p.m.
Contact: Brett Bernard
627-5900

Eugene Ware Elementary
4820 Oakland
April 16, 2015
9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Contact: Collette Chaney
627-5950

Frances Willard Elementary
3400 Orville
April 16, 2015
1:30 – 3 p.m.
Contact: Sarah Pike
627-6100

Frank Rushton Elementary
2605 W. 43rd Ave.
April 16, 2015
2:30 p.m.
Contact: Mary Welsh
627-3050

Grant Elementary
1510 N. 4th St.
April 16, 2015
9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
and
12:45 – 2:45 p.m.
Contact: Janice McConnell
627-4300

Hazel Grove Elementary
2401 N. 67th St.
April 16, 2015
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Contact: Dee Dee Hines
627-7000

John F. Kennedy Elementary
2600 N. 72nd St.
April 16, 2015
9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Contact: Canise Salinas
627-4950

John Fiske Elementary
625 S. Valley
April 16, 2015
1:30 to 2:30 p.m.
and
4:15 to 5:15 p.m.
Contact: Josie Herrera
627-4850

Lindbergh Elementary
641 N. 57th St.
April 16, 2015
10 a.m. to noon
Contact: Iva Lee Colgan
627-5150

Mark Twain Elementary
2300 Minnesota Ave.
April 16, 2015
9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
and 1 to 3 p.m.
Contact: Sandra Egidy
627-5200

McKinley Elementary
611 North 14th St.
April 16, 2015
9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
and 12:30 to 3 p.m.
Contact: Valerie Castillo
627-7350

M.E. Pearson Elementary
310 N. 11th St.
April 15, 2015
2 to 6 p.m.
or
April 16, 2015
8:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Contact: Susan Hendricks, Interim
627-3150

New Chelsea Elementary
2500 Wood
April 16, 2015
9:30 to noon
and 1 to 3:30 p.m.
Contact: Dominic Flora
627-5000

New Stanley Elementary
3604 Metropolitian
April 16, 2015
7:30 – 10:30 a.m.
and
1:30 – 6 p.m.
Contact: Ryan Most
627-3950

Noble Prentis Elementary
2337 S. 14th St.
April 16, 2015
10 a.m.
6 p.m.
Contact: James Poplau
627-5250

Parker Elementary
3334 Haskell
April 16, 2015
9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
or 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Contact: Ruth Capell
627-4200

Quindaro Elementary
2800 Farrow
April 16, 2015
9 a.m. to noon
1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Contact: Stacey Chatmon
627-4400

Silver City Elementary
2515 Lawrence Ave.
April 16, 2015
10 a.m.
or 6 p.m.
Contact: Deanne Letourneau
627-4550

Stony Point North Elementary
8200 Elizabeth
April 16, 2015
9:30 a.m. – 11
Contact: Jane Martin
627-4500

Stony Point South Elementary
150 S. 78th St.
April 16, 2015
6 to 7:30 p.m.
Contact: Lori Cooper
627-4600

T.A. Edison Elementary
1000 Locust St.
April 16, 2015
9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
or 2 to 5 p.m.
Contact: Cindy Cop
627-4900

Welborn Elementary
5200 Leavenworth Road
April 16, 2015
9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Contact: Jennifer Malone
627-4450

White Church Elementary
2226 N. 85th St.
April 16, 2015
9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Contact: Bruce Haber
627-4250

Whittier Elementary
295 S. 10th St.
April 16, 2015
10 a.m., 2 or 5:30 p.m.
Contact: Geri Cunningham
627-4250

W.A. White Elementary
2600 N. 43rd Terr.
April 16, 2015
9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
9:00 to 11:00am
1 to 3 p.m.
Contact: Angela Wright
627-6250

Preschool Enrollment Dates, Locations and Times
April 1 KCKPS Central Office and Morse Early Childhood Center
1 to 5 p.m.
April 14 KCKPS Central Office and Morse Early Childhood Center 4:30 – 7 p.m.
April 16 KCKPS Central Office and Morse Early Childhood Center 4:30 – 7 p.m.
April 22 KCKPS Central Office and Morse Early Childhood Center 9-1 p.m.
May 2 KCKPS Central Office only 9-1 p.m.
May 20 KCKPS Central Office and Morse Early Childhood Center
9-1 p.m.

– Story from Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools

Akins graduates from basic training

Air Force Airman Garrett J. Akins graduated from basic military training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, San Antonio, Texas.

The airman completed an intensive, eight-week program that included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physical fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills.

Airmen who complete basic training earn four credits toward an associate in applied science degree through the Community College of the Air Force.

He is a 2010 graduate of Turner High School, Kansas City, Kan.

House committee reconsiders Parents as Teachers funding recommendation

Legislators say concerns about ‘credible data’ on program led to previous vote

by Dave Ranney, KHI News Service

The House Social Services Budget Committee changed its mind Wednesday, voting to shelve an earlier recommendation that could have led to the Parents as Teachers program being cut from the state budget.

“We’re going to have another hearing,” said Rep. Will Carpenter, a Republican from El Dorado and chairman of the committee.

Earlier in the week, the committee voted to encourage the House Appropriations Committee to consider dropping Parents as Teachers from the list of programs supported by the Children’s Initiatives Fund, the state’s repository for tobacco settlement monies.

“That really wasn’t about grabbing money,” Carpenter said. “It had more to do with getting their attention, which I think it did.”

Carpenter said that after listening to recent presentations by Janice Smith, executive director of the Kansas Children’s Cabinet, and Jackie Counts, director of the Center for Public Partnerships and Research at the University of Kansas, he and others on the committee were left with the impression that Parents as Teachers’ effectiveness was questionable and that the program appeared to resist gathering and sharing data needed to measure its success.

“I just didn’t think the credible data was there to prove the efficacy of the whole program,” said Rep. Peggy Mast, a Republican from Emporia and vice chairwoman of the Social Services Budget Committee, after the initial vote.

But after that vote, committee members were flooded with emails and telephone calls from child advocates, assuring them that Parents as Teachers is effective, relies on evidence-based practices and includes a thorough evaluation process.

Carpenter said he welcomed hearing from advocates for the program, which offers support to parents in the early years of their children’s lives.

“I don’t think anyone on the committee has anything against Parents as Teachers. I don’t, certainly,” he said. “But that’s really not what this was about. This was about accountability and our being able to justify how the ‘people’s money’ is being spent. It looks like (Parents as Teachers) can do that, so I think they’ll come out of this all right.”

Nancy Keel, executive director of the Kansas Parents as Teachers Association, and Dale Dennis, deputy commissioner of the Kansas Department of Education, are scheduled to appear March 5 before the committee.

“I’m going to review the facts, and I think the facts are going to speak for themselves,” Dennis said. “It’ll be positive. Parents as Teachers has been around a long time. It’s a good program.”

Keel said: “We’ll be letting them know that Parents as Teachers is a viable program.”

There are approximately 70 Parents as Teachers programs in Kansas administered by their local school districts. The programs employ more than 200 home-visitation workers who met with more than 10,000 families last year, Keel said.

The Parents as Teachers total operating budget is $12.3 million a year, made up of $7.2 million from the Children’s Initiatives Fund and $5.1 million from school districts, grants, foundations and local charities.

“Our high-water mark, funding-wise, was back in 2008 when we were at $7.5 million,” Keel said, referring to the program’s Children’s Initiatives Fund allocation. “We were lowered to $7.2 million when the recession hit, and we’ve never gotten to go back to our original amount. We’ve been at $7.2 million ever since.”

Keel attributed the committee’s accountability concerns to a misunderstanding about the forms used to measure parents’ satisfaction with the program.

“There’s a line on page 15 of one of the reports that says the parent satisfaction survey is not valid and is not reliable,” she said.

The committee, Keel said, assumed that meant the survey results were skewed when it actually meant they likely were not a 100 percent accurate reflection of what parents truly think about the program.

“There isn’t a survey form that’s considered valid and reliable,” she said.

Still, the report gave the survey 95 out of a possible 100 points.

The nonprofit KHI News Service is an editorially independent initiative of the Kansas Health Institute and a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor reporting collaboration. All stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to KHI.org when a story is reposted online.

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