SchoolSmartKC

SchoolSmartKC is hiring for Literacy Coaches to join our work in ensuring Literacy for All Students. These coaches will begin their work in the 2025/26 school year, and will be a member of the school team, working on site with leaders and educators to build literacy for students in Kansas City. Learn more about our work in literacy and our goal of Literacy For All Students on our website schoolsmartkc.org/literacy #hiring #kcjobs #teachingjobs #educationjobs

November is Family Literacy Month, and at SchoolSmartKC, we’re proud to highlight our efforts to ensure every child in Kansas City has the opportunity to thrive through literacy. Reading is the foundation for success in school, work, and life, yet far too many students face barriers to achieving grade-level literacy. One of the ways to overcome such barriers is to read as a family. This strategy is one of the most impactful ways to spark a love of learning and build strong literacy skills. Family literacy not only enhances academic performance but also strengthens emotional bonds and encourages creativity and problem-solving. This Family Literacy Month, we’re celebrating the life-changing benefits of reading together. Whether it’s sharing a bedtime story, visiting the library, or exploring new books as a family, every moment spent reading creates opportunities for connection and growth. Let’s make literacy a cornerstone of our homes and a gift for future generations of students in our city. ? #FamilyLiteracyMonth #LiteracyForAllStudents

Jobs in healthcare are in high demand. Helping students navigate those careers begins with exposure and guidance to choose from certificate and degree programs in a vast variety of nursing and allied health fields. Today, real-world learning managers from KCPES schools toured Metropolitan Community College-Kansas City's state-of-the-art Health Science Institute (HSI).?This unique learning facility offers true-to-life simulation stations and takes hands-on learning opportunities, clinical skill practice and patient care teamwork to the next level. Thank you, Dr. Renee Portmann and Jon Marshall for showcasing this fabulous facility and sharing with real-world learning managers how to effectively create healthcare pathways in their schools. #realworldlearning #industryrecognizedcredentials #careersinhealthcare

This week several facets of the Literacy for All Students effort aimed?at addressing the city-wide literacy crisis were in full swing. KCPS and Charter School principals participated in a full day of professional learning facilitated by our partners at New Leaders. Students and teachers in the Royals Literacy League at Whittier Elementary?School had a special guest stop by to provide a little inspiration and celebrate the joy of reading before heading into a session of high-dosage tutoring with the support of Lead to Read, KC. #literacy

SchoolSmartKC was honored to have families from some of our Pre-K Cooperative early childhood education centers spend some time at the KC Urban Youth Academy on Saturday. Families were able to enjoy time at this culminating event after participating in an intensive five-week literacy program, where students and families learned the importance of reading and starting as early as possible to build their love of books. In the five-week program, students and families were able to experience the joy of reading through music, storytelling, and a visit to the Rabbit Hole KC. They were also able to take books home each week. This was all made available through The Kansas City Royals Foundation who also sponsored the day at the KC Urban Youth Academy. Children played games, took pictures with Slugger, and read and sang Take Me Out To the Ball Park. #prek #earlychildhoodeducation #literacy #kansascity #forourstudents #kc

SSKC is proud to support Crossroads with their real-world learning efforts, we love to see the exciting things happening at this school! #rwl #realworldlearning #kcschools

And just like that….2nd inning, but this time with ALL of the 2nd grade students at the school! Thank you Kansas City Royals, The Kansas City Royals Foundation, The Sherman Family Foundation, and SchoolSmartKC for being wonderful partners and champions for literacy! Special thanks to the most amazing Classroom Champion in the world, Bobby Witt Jr! Our children deserve the world and as you can see from the video, this means the world to them! Moving schools forward and reaching optimal outcomes really isn’t rocket science. It requires outstanding and thoughtful leadership, skilled and agile instruction from genuinely nurturing and loving teachers who are allowed to be creative, parents who feel welcomed and supported by the schools that serve their children, and joyful, warm, and incredibly engaging classroom environments. The added cherry on top is powerful and intentional partnerships like the one we have with our beloved Kansas City Royals! Thank you Royals for always remembering the joy and allowing me to bring even more children and families into the league for round 2! Great things can happen when we lead with love, joy, and excellence! #RoyalsLiteracyLeague #2ndinning #partneredup

Absolutely honored to be a part of this event and be honored by Western Governors University. The partnership with WGU allows educators to enter the workforce quicker and well prepared to meet the needs of their students and schools. We can’t wait to see where this partnership takes us! #education #teacherprep #wgu #workforcedevelopment #partnership #kansascity

Last week directors from the Pre-K Cooperative met over a nice dinner at Lidia’s for our Quarterly Directors Meeting. This is a time we come together with the goals of ensuring consistent communication between our coaches, teachers and directors, share concerns and problem-solve as a group, and provide leadership development to our leaders at each site. This is quality time we hold sacred to help uplift, support, and thank those who are in the trenches every day making learning fun for our littlest learners. #prek #prekcooperative

We can’t wait to see Teachers Like Me and Dr. Trinity Davis on The Kelly Clarkson Show this afternoon!! What an incredible way to highlight the amazing work being done by TLM and team for teachers in KC!