3-T P s athreetrailspolytechnicschool.x10host.com/documents/3TPS... · 2018-11-29 · in the Hickman Mills C-1 School District under the sponsorship of the Missouri Charter Public

3-Trails school absTracT3-Trails West, Inc. in collaboration with Elizabeth Noble, Ph.D.

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November 1, 2018© 2018-2016 All rights reserved. | 3-Trails West, Inc.

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3-Trails PolyTechnic school absTracT

SCHOOL MODEL: 3-Trails Polytechnic School is planned as a K-5 charter public elementary school in the Hickman Mills C-1 School District under the sponsorship of the Missouri Charter Public School Commission. The organizing theme of the school is the Santa Fe, Oregon and California National His-toric Trails. Financial literacy, wellness, and sustainability-ecology are the school curriculum anchors. The school comports with all state regulations and with the small school model. Implementation is phased beginning with just 100 K-1 students in year one and growing by 50 students every year until at full scale of 300 students in year five. The teacher-led student-centered school model is built on a dedicated project based learning curriculum platform designed to maximize resources in the classroom.

“Tis education forms the common mind; Just as the twig is bent, the tree’s inclin’d”

Alexander Pope, Moral Essays, Epistle I, Line 149

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

A SUMMARY: .............................................................................................................................1

OUR GOAL: ........................................................................................................2

B FINDINGS: ..............................................................................................................................3

C METHODOLOGY: ...................................................................................................................4

D HOST SCHOOL DISTRICT: .................................................................................................15

1 Location: ...................................................................................................... 15

2 Enrollment: .................................................................................................. 15

3 Accreditation: ............................................................................................... 15

4 GreatSchools Rating: ...................................................................................... 16

5 Vital Statistics: .............................................................................................. 17

6 Facilities: ...................................................................................................... 17

7 History: ........................................................................................................ 17

8 Collaborative Opportunities: ..........................................................................24

9 Recent Developments: ....................................................................................24

E SCHOOL DESIGN ELEMENTS: ...........................................................................................25

1 Signature Landmark School: ........................................................................... 25

2 National Park Service: .................................................................................... 26

3 Sister Schools on the National Historic Trails: .................................................. 26

4 School Name and Logo: .................................................................................. 27

5 Arts: ............................................................................................................. 27

6 Downtown Connection: .................................................................................. 28

7 Uniforms: .....................................................................................................28

8 Extended Day and School Year: ....................................................................... 28

9 International Performance Benchmarks: .......................................................... 29

a – International Baccalaureate Program: ............................................................... 29

b – Program for International Student Assessment: ................................................ 30

10 Mentorship: ..................................................................................................30

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11 Democracy: ...................................................................................................30

12 Small School Model: ...................................................................................... 31

13 Endowment Fund: ......................................................................................... 31

F SCHOOL MODEL: ................................................................................................................33

1 Adherence to Charter School Foundation Principles: ........................................ 33

2 School Covenants: .......................................................................................... 33

a – Fiduciary Duty to Always Act in the Best Intrest of Our Students ...................... 34

b – Credo: ............................................................................................................. 34

c – Neighborhood School: ..................................................................................... 35

3 School Curriculum Anchors: .......................................................................... 35

a – Financial Literacy: ........................................................................................... 36

b – Wellness: ......................................................................................................... 36

c – Sustainability: .................................................................................................. 36

4 Teachers: ....................................................................................................... 37

5 Student Education Plan: ................................................................................ 39

6 School Location and Facilities: ........................................................................ 41

7 Neighborhood Preference Zone: ...................................................................... 42

8 Transportation: .............................................................................................42

9 School Size and Grades Served: ....................................................................... 43

10 Implementation: ............................................................................................43

11 Student Share of Market: ................................................................................44

G GOVERNANCE: ...................................................................................................................45

1 Trustees: .......................................................................................................45

2 Senior Faculty: ..............................................................................................46

3 Faculty: .........................................................................................................48

4 Academic Support: ........................................................................................ 48

5 Organizational Chart: .................................................................................... 49

H SCHOOL VISION SCENARIOS: ...........................................................................................50

1 Scenario One: ................................................................................................50

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2 Scenario Two: ................................................................................................50

3 Scenario Three: .............................................................................................50

4 Scenario Four: ............................................................................................... 51

5 Scenario Five: ................................................................................................ 51

6 Scenario Six: .................................................................................................52

7 Scenario Seven: ..............................................................................................52

8 Scenario Eight: ..............................................................................................52

9 Scenario Nine: ...............................................................................................53

Kindergarten: ........................................................................................................ 53

First Grade: ........................................................................................................... 53

Second Grade: ....................................................................................................... 54

Third Grade: ......................................................................................................... 54

Fourth Grade: ....................................................................................................... 54

Fifth Grade: .......................................................................................................... 55

EXHIBIT

A Resume of Elizabeth Noble, Ph.D ................................................................... 56

B Map of Hickman Mills School District ............................................................. 61

C HMSD 3-Trails Corridor Segment .................................................................... 63

D HMSD Student Interpretive Panel ....................................................................64

E Hart Grove School from Hickman Survey Atlas of 1874 ...................................... 65

F Historic Trails Sculptures at HMSD Administrative Building ............................. 66

G Hickman High School Band at Schumacher Park Dedication, Nov, 1991 .............. 67

H Map of 3-Trails Corridor ................................................................................. 68

I Map of Santa Fe, Oregon, and California National Historic Trails ....................... 69

J Warford Elementary students historic trails mural project at

Schumacher Park (1) ....................................................................................... 70

K Warford Elementary students historic trails mural project at

Schumacher Park (2) ....................................................................................... 71

L Diversity on the Historic Trails ........................................................................ 72

M National Park Service Education Support Letter ............................................... 73

© 2017 All Rights Reserved. 3-Trails West, Inc.v

N Bylaws of the Francine Delany New School for Children ................................... 78

O EdVisions Schools Design Essentials Checklist .................................................. 92

P The Teaching Firm and the Partners Council

of the Professional Preparatory Charter School ................................................ 94

Q Map of 3-Trails Neighborhood Preference Zone ................................................ 99

R Biddy Mason ................................................................................................ 101

Back to Table of Contents

© 2017 All Rights Reserved. 3-Trails West, Inc.1

A – SUMMARY:

This proposal is for the 3-Trails Polytechnic School (3TPS) in the Hickman Mills C-1 School District (HMSD) in South Kansas City, Missouri. It identifies the need for and explores a truly innovative and unique governance model providing for a teacher-led student-centered charter public elementary school. The school model is built on a dedicated project based learning curriculum platform specifically designed to maximize resources in the classroom. Situated on the historic, 19th century westward trails, 3TPS will capitalize on the geographic proximity of this monumental chapter in American History as context for a rigorous, personalized, and practical learning based curriculum for K-5 students.

Our grant predecessor, 3-Trails Community Improvement District (CID), was formed in 2002 to promote sustainable economic development in the CID. Equally important was the CID’s deep commitment to enhancing public education as a driver of sustainable economic development, especially in the implemen-tation of programs that would provide students in the surrounding community with access to quality edu-cation and a pipeline to meaningful employment. The CID, in collaboration with Elizabeth Noble, Ph.D. (Exhibit A – Resume of Elizabeth Noble, Ph.D.), conducted extensive research on education with a special emphasis on the historical development of the polytechnic (“many arts”) school model developed during the Progressive Era around the turn of the 20th century. The CID education and economic development research can be found on its website: 3trailscid.org.

On the advice of legal counsel, the CID encouraged/recommended proposed legislation to be filed in the Missouri General Assembly amending the Missouri CID statute to specifically permit a CID to participate in public education through a CID-sponsored public school. In support of the legislation, the CID held numerous public community meetings providing information about the importance of public education in achieving sustainable economic development, expanding educational opportunities for students and enhancing quality of life. One key benefit of the CID legislation is that it would have created access to federal funding designated for economic development through the CID for which public school districts are not eligible that could then be utilized in the CID school and shared with nearby school districts under a collaborative education plan.

The CID hosted Jed Wallace, then the CEO of High Tech High, a nationally recognized, high-performing charter school in San Diego, California for a two day visit to Kansas City. Mr. Wallace and CID represen-tatives met with various community, educational and business stakeholders to measure the level of local interest in implementing some of the proven High Tech High educational protocols in collaboration with the CID and other South Kansas City school districts. Unfortunately, the school districts expressed no in-terest in collaborating with High Tech High, or the CID. After three years of unsuccessful effort to amend the CID statute, combined with lack of support from the local school districts, the CID board concluded the CID education initiative was premature, and tabled the effort in favor of CID infrastructure planning, funding, and construction. The CID terminated in 2015, following the acquisition of the majority of the land in the CID by Cerner Corporation and made a grant of its remaining funds to 3-Trails West, Inc., (3-Trails) to be used for the same purposes of the CID.

https://www.hickmanmills.orghttp://www.3trailscid.orghttp://www.3trailscid.orghttps://www.hightechhigh.org



3-Trails was created in 1991 as a not-for-profit corporation. Its primary mission is promoting of the Santa Fe, Oregon, and California National Historic Trails, which have significant documented pertinence to the Kansas City region. 3-Trails focuses on constructing a 46 mile retracement trail on the historic trails align-ment from Sugar Creek, Missouri, to Gardner, Kansas,; to promote sustainable economic development and education; and, enhance community quality of life along the historic trail corridor. 3-Trails worked very closely with the CID; Mid-America Regional Council (MARC); Kansas City, Missouri; Jackson County, Missouri; the National Park Service; Hickman Mills School District; and, other key stakeholders on a va-riety of projects, studies, and infrastructure improvements relating to the historic trails, transit, sustainable economic development, education opportunities for students of the community and numerous initiatives collectively deemed beneficial to the community, and the region.

In January 2017, 3-Trails received confirmation from its legal counsel, Ms. Aleksandra O. Rushing (Husch Blackwell Law Firm) that charter schools were now authorized in the provisionally accredited Hickman Mills C-1 School District. The decision was made to resurrect the old CID school initiative in the form of a charter public school, and to conduct a comprehensive in-depth analysis and assessment to determine the feasibility of establishing a quality charter public school in the Hickman Mills C-1 School District.. In addition to promoting sustainable economic development, enhanced quality of life and employment opportunities, the primary goal of new school initiative is to provide current and future students in the HMSD with maximum access to quality education calculated to provide a pipeline for all students to meaningful employment.

Pursuant to the methodology and feasibility analysis detailed below, we have concluded and heartily en-dorse a quality charter public school in the HMSD is needed by the students in this community. Therefore, we propose moving forward to create an innovative and quality charter public school that will offer project based learning and training in the traditional polytechnic “many arts” model, and serve as the foundation for sustainable economic development and revitalization of South Kansas City.

OUR GOAL:

Establish and successfully operate a teacher-led, student-centered quality, signature landmark charter pub-lic elementary school under the sponsorship of the Missouri Charter Public School Commission in the Hickman Mills C-1 School District, along the historic pathway of the Santa Fe, Oregon, and California National Historic Trails where all of our students are performing at or above grade level and achieving a level of interactive social skills commensurate with their age.

https://mcpsc.mo.gov



B – FINDINGS:

➣ Teachers are professionals and should be treated, credentialed, and compensated accordingly

➣ Teachers must have mastery of subject, pedagogy, and have a passion and love for their students and the art of teaching

➣ Teaching quality is the most dominant factor in determining student success

➣ Standardization and upgrading of teacher credentialing is imperative

➣ Teacher empowerment is an integral charter school component

➣ Teacher empowerment is incompatible with the top down “factory” school model

➣ Teacher empowerment is best achieved through a teacher-led school model

➣ School self- improvement and innovation requires teacher-led governance

➣ Disruption and by-pass will occur without school improvement and innovation

➣ Teacher-led schools have a long history of success and quality performance

➣ Teacher-led schools produce higher student academic and social outcomes

➣ Teacher-led schools are compatible with a non-union or union work force

➣ Every student must have a student education plan

➣ Small school model enhances student performance, especially at risk populations

➣ Project based learning is best achieved through teacher-led student-centered school model

➣ Academic not for profit corporation is the best entity for teacher-led school model

➣ Independent oversight combined with internal checks and balances is required

➣ Maintain relationships direct with the State of Missouri wherever possible

➣ Traditional public funding sources will support a teacher-led charter school

➣ Sustainable school financial viability requires a separate school endowment fund

➣ Demand for quality seats access will support a charter school in the HMSD



C – METHODOLOGY:

Our research in support of this abstract began in January 2017, with the procurement of a legal opinion from Aleksandra O. Rushing, Attorney (Husch Blackwell Law Firm) dated January 7, 2017, confirming charter schools were permitted in the HMSD. The full text of Attorney Rushing’s opinion can be found on the website: 3trailscid.org.

3-TRAILS CID EDUCATION RESEARCH: We reviewed the various education studies and infor-mation that had been previously prepared by the 3-Trails Community Improvement District for its CID school initiative, most notably the Elizabeth Brooks Master’s Thesis titled, “The Junior College” (Clark University, June 1917) and, “Education as An Economic Incentive” by Elizabeth Noble, Ph.D. (dated September 12, 2006). We examined the historical background of the education reforms developed during the Progressive Era including the “Missouri Plan,” which put Missouri at the forefront of national educa-tion reform and innovation. For example, St. Louis was the first American public school system to adopt kindergarten (Susan Blow, 1873). The Kansas City Polytechnic Institute, established in 1915 as one of the first junior colleges in the United States, was the first public institution of higher learning in Kansas City. The Kansas City Polytechnic Institute also included a high school featuring a polytechnic philosophy like that of the earlier founded Polytechnic School (Pasadena, CA) discussed elsewhere. The Kansas City Metropolitan Community College system is a direct descendant of the Kansas City Polytechnic Institute.

COMMUNITY MEETINGS: Three community meetings attended by more than 200 people were held to provide general information about charter schools to the local stakeholders. Two of the meetings were through the Southern Communities Coalition and the other sponsored by 3-Trails, and moderated by Ms. Katie Boody, Co-Founder and CEO, The Lean Lab, Kansas City, Missouri. We codified all the community meeting public comments by separating them into three categories: areas of satisfaction; areas of concern; and, areas of needed improvements in the current public education being provided by the HMSD. The comments from these community meetings and the previous CID education research materials became the initial baseline for our subsequent research.

SCHOOL TOURS KC: Through School Tours KC, visits were made to the following school facilities: Paseo Academy for the Performing Arts, Hale Cook Elementary, Citizens of the World-Kansas City, and University Academy. A subsequent visit was made to Kipp Endeavor Academy.

BOARD GOVERNANCE ACADEMY: We participated in the Board Governance Academy sponsored by the University of Central Missouri and the Missouri Charter Public Schools Association (May 17, 2107). We also attended in The Lean Lab/KCedu presentation the same month regarding State Policy and Its Impact on Education.

FINANCIAL LITERACY: We met with Mr. Raul Duran (Assistant Vice President, Hispanic Business Development Officer, Arvest Bank) and Ms. Debbie Hieronymus (Assistant Vice President, Branch Sales Manager, Arvest Bank), regarding strategies for incorporating financial literacy into 3TPS anchor curricu-lum. We reviewed in detail the financial literacy education program currently being conducted throughout

http://www.3trailscid.org/3-trails-good-schools-project/husch-blackwell-analysis-of-missouri-charter-school-laws/http://www.3trailscid.org/wp-content/uploads/1917-06-01-Elizabeth-Brooks-June-1917-THE-JUNIOR-COLLEGE.pdfhttp://www.3trailscid.org/3-trails-good-schools-project/education-as-an-economic-incentive-2/https://www.polytechnic.org/pagehttp://www.theleanlab.org/index.htmlhttp://www.kansascitygreatschools.com/school-tours-kc/https://www.kcpublicschools.org/paseohttps://www.kcpublicschools.org/halecookhttp://www.cwckansascity.orghttp://www.universityacademy.orghttps://www.kippendeavor.orghttp://www.mocharterschools.org



the Kansas City region by Arvest Bank in conjunction with the Federal Reserve Bank and the Community Reinvestment Act protocols.

WELLNESS RESEARCH: We met with Sara Martin-Anderson, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor of Health Ad-ministration, Henry W. Block School of Management (UMKC) and Manager of Community Engagement, Policy and Accountability, City of Kansas City, Missouri regarding ways of linking the 3TPS wellness curriculum anchor into a variety of Health Department and other third-party health and social programs and initiatives. We consulted with Ms. Jan Schmidt, MS., R.Y.T., Blue Bicycle Health and Fitness (Kan-sas City, MO) about creative wellness programs designed for younger students to include in our school wellness curriculum anchor. Ms. Schmidt referred us to the Namaste Charter School (Chicago, IL) whose entire curriculum is centered on wellness.

CHARTER SCHOOL RESEARCH: We researched the origins of the charter school movement and discovered the term “charter” goes back into early English history and is a well-established concept in the American-English legal systems.

Charter is a limited delegation of the King’s sovereign powers to an individual or organization for a specific purpose and time. Interestingly, the American colonies were established by charter. For example, in 1732 King George II granted James Oglethorpe a 21-year charter to establish a colony in what is now the state of Georgia (named after George II).

Charter appears to have been first used in a modern educational context by Professor Ray Budde (Uni-versity of Massachusetts) in his paper entitled “Education by Charter” about some ideas for reorganizing school districts around teacher governance presented to the Society for General Systems Research in 1974. In a 1988 speech to the National Press Club, Albert Shanker, then head of the American Federation of Teachers, introduced his vision of the charter school concept, based on the idea of teachers setting-up and operating autonomous schools. Mr. Shanker later acknowledged that he took the term charter from Pro-fessor Budde’s paper. Three years after Mr. Shanker’s press club speech, Minnesota became the first state to authorize charter schools. (1991)

We reviewed the following documents: The History of Missouri’s Charter Schools (Douglas P. Thaman, Ed.D), The Missouri Charter Public School Commission and the Role of Sponsorship (Douglas P. Tha-man, Ed.D), Missouri Charter Public School Commission Application, Principles & Standards For Qual-ity Charter School Authorizing (National Association of Charter School Authorizers), and the Charter Agreement – A Model Resource for Missouri Charter Public School Sponsors (National Association of Charter School Authorizers).

We made extensive research into select charter school documents and information, most notably: Kauff-man School (Kansas City, Missouri), Citizens of the World (Kansas City, Missouri), Avalon School (St. Paul, Minnesota), IDEAL School (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), Monte Del Sol Charter School (Santa Fe, New Mexico), Minnesota New Country School (Henderson, Minnesota), High Tech High (San Diego, California), Polytechnic School (Pasadena, California), Francine Delany New School for Children (Ash-ville, North Carolina), Ron Clark Academy (Atlanta, Georgia), Professional Preparatory School (Brook-lyn, New York), and others.

https://bloch.umkc.eduhttp://www.bluebikefitness.comhttp://namastecharterschool.orghttps://www.educationevolving.org/pdf/Ray-Budde-Origins-Of-Chartering.pdfhttp://www.guidestar.org/ViewEdoc.aspx?eDocId=3380946&approved=Truehttp://www.guidestar.org/ViewEdoc.aspx?eDocId=3380946&approved=Truehttp://www.qualitycharters.orghttp://www.qualitycharters.orghttps://dese.mo.gov/sites/default/files/charteragreement.pdfhttps://dese.mo.gov/sites/default/files/charteragreement.pdfhttp://www.kauffmanschool.org/Home.aspxhttp://www.kauffmanschool.org/Home.aspxhttp://www.cwckansascity.orghttp://www.avalonschool.orghttp://www5.milwaukee.k12.wi.us/school/ideal/https://www.mdscs.orghttps://newcountryschool.comhttps://www.polytechnic.org/pagehttp://fdnsc.nethttp://www.ronclarkacademy.comhttp://tfoaprofessionalprep.org



HARLEM CHILDREN’S ZONE: Special attention was given to the history, mission and performance of the Harlem Children’s Zone school concept created by Geoffrey Canada in Harlem, New York because of the obvious similarities to our anticipated student demographics. Of particular interest to us was Mr. Can-ada’s success in improving his at-risk students’ academic performance indicated negative external factors caused by poverty did not preclude academic success as had been postulated by some in HMSD leadership. Mr. Canada’s program combines a very intensive and targeted saturation educational process for largely at-risk students with a massive social and economic support system extending outside of the classroom. The objective is to influence and exert positive influences on the child and parents on the home front as early in the child’s life as possible. Some of the causation factors identified in the Harlem Children’s Zone model as contributing to the academic performance of at risk students caused us to review Richard Dawkins book, “The Selfish Gene” which provided an expanded context for understanding the role biology plays in the learning process, especially in a child’s early years.

We found that James Heckman, the renowned education researcher, offers collaborating evidence of the importance of early academic intervention and reinforcement with at risk student populations. (For exam-ple, The Perry Pre-School program and the Abecedarian Early Childhood Intervention studies):

“The final critical fact for Heckman is that the skills that a child learns early on make it easier for him to master more complex skills as he grows up. If you intervene in a child’s life early, later interventions will have more to build upon, which means that they will pay off more as well. But if you don’t start early, the reverse happens: each year it gets harder and harder to have an effect on a child’s development … The best and simplest way to prepare children for a successful life is for their parents to give them everything they need at home, in their earliest years. But if that doesn’t happen, if they’re not born lucky, all is not lost: with the right inputs, at the right time, you can compensate for any kind of childhood”.

The important take-away from the Heckman research and the Harlem Children’s Zone school program is that poverty while a factor is not by itself determinative in predicting at risk student performance. Rather, the research indicates that a concentrated educational regimen specifically tailored to at risk students and beginning at a very early age can successfully improve student performance despite the negative effects associated with poverty. In addition, the literature strongly suggests a growing consensus that the teacher is ultimately the single-most important factor in predicting student academic performance. The literature strongly indicates a growing consensus that the teacher is ultimately the single-most important factor in predicting student academic/social performance. And a persuasive argument can be made for inclu-sion of community school principles to further expand and reinforce the level of external teacher and

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Selfish_Genehttp://evidencebasedprograms.org/1366-2/65-2http://abc.fpg.unc.edu/abecedarian-project



student support within our neighborhood school covenant discussed elsewhere. (Coalition for Community Schools) and “Briefing Memo – Community Schools,” Amy Junge, Education Evolving, April 18, 2016.

UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME: Historian, Rutger Bregman’s Ted Talks video, “Poverty Isn’t a Lack of Character, It’s a Lack of Cash,” offered some very interesting insights on the use of the universal basic income concept to alleviate the conditions of poverty and economic inequality that so adversely affects the learning opportunities of at risk student populations in the classroom. Of note in this regard: recently the State of Hawaii unanimously passed a bill that declares that all Hawaiians deserve basic financial security and instructs state agencies to look over “universal basic income” along with other policy to ensure finan-cial stability for a workforce faced with loss of employment caused by technology.

In 2018 Stockton, CA plans to initiate a random sample basic income trial that will provide participants with $500 per month with no strings attached. We discovered Finland currently has two universal basic income pilot projects underway. Emerging concepts like universal basic income that could profoundly im-prove education opportunities and performance for at risk students from low income families by providing them with more direct financial resources on the home front should be included in the 3TPS’s long term strategic planning agenda for continuous monitoring, analysis and potential support. Special consideration should be given to 3TPS participation in basic income trails, especially those structured to measure the effect of basic income on student academic and social performance in at risk populations.

POLYTECHNIC SCHOOL: We examined the philosophy and curriculum of the Polytechnic School (Pasadena, CA), a high performing private K -12 school founded in 1907 and based on the traditional polytechnic “many arts” principles. This school had been included in the early CID education research. “Poly,” as the school is fondly known, has one of the best organized and informative school websites ex-amined in our research – very high quality which correlates with its impressive academic performance. Of special interest to us was the detailed and comprehensive description of the school curriculum by school (Lower, Middle and Upper) and by grade. Given the 3TPS historic trails theme, we especially identified with the emphasis Poly places on exposing its students to the history of California, and the United States within a global context.

Poly’s strategic financial structure includes a $52 million dollar Polytechnic School Endowment Fund which contributes 8% of the school’s annual operating costs. Also noteworthy is Poly’s use of high-quality school facilities featuring “open air” design with residential scale classrooms and adjacent courtyards and playgrounds. On an historical note, Poly’s original school buildings were designed by renowned architect, Myron Hunt, who later designed the Rose Bowl. Like Ron Clark Academy, University Academy, Ewing Marion Kauffman School, and other quality schools we examined, first class school facilities play a very important role in defining a school’s identity, culture, and learning environment.

HIGH TECH HIGH: Drawing on our early research on the High Tech High model we re-examined the current High Tech High school models confirming they are still based on project based learning and dis-covery (“Constructivism”). Of special interest to us was the High Tech High teacher certification program designed to give the school control over the quality of its teachers by elevating credentialing standards, competency in subject and pedagogy to High Tech High standards. We also made note of the High Tech

http://www.communityschools.orghttp://www.communityschools.orghttps://www.ted.com/talks/rutger_bregman_poverty_isn_t_a_lack_of_character_it_s_a_lack_of_cashhttps://www.ted.com/talks/rutger_bregman_poverty_isn_t_a_lack_of_character_it_s_a_lack_of_cashhttps://www.polytechnic.org/pagehttps://www.polytechnic.org/page/support-poly/poly-fundhttps://www.flickr.com/photos/michael_locke/sets/72157634803759212/https://www.hightechhigh.org



High educational leadership program created to provide educators with advanced professional develop-ment skills necessary to successfully implement school innovation and self-improvement.

SCHOOL LIBRARY FACILITIES: Ms. Clare Hollander (The Kansas City Public Library – Central Library) strongly advised us to include dedicated age appropriate library facilities in our school. She also provided us with valuable information in support of 3TPS having an on-going downtown connection so our students can tour and participate in the numerous cultural and arts venues located in downtown Kansas City. The library, which is nationally recognized for the quality and scope of its public/community programming including extensive educational programing for students, is a wonderful resource for our stu-dents and offers potential collaborative opportunities on our school library facilities.

We viewed the March 2017 Ted Talks video featuring Mr. Michael Bierut, (Partner in the design firm, Pen-tagram and a teacher in the Yale Schools of Art and Management) titled, “How to Design a Library That Makes Kids Want to Read”. We also looked at the February 2016 Ted Talks video, “Architecture That’s Built to Heal,” by Michael Murphy (Co-Founder and CEO, Mass Design Group) that discusses a holistic approach to building design that produces community as well as beautiful buildings. We were especially interested in his incorporation of history into his designs that would work well with our goal to portray throughout the 3TPS’s curriculum, culture, and architecture, the many faces and stories of the travelers on the historic trails.

GREEN DOT SCHOOLS: We examined the Green Dot Schools, a non-profit entity serving more than 14,000 students in California, Tennessee, and Washington making it one of the three largest independent public-school operators in the United States. We had an extensive interview with Mr. Chad Soleo, cur-rently Vice President of Advancement, Green Dot Public Schools National, a former teacher and high school founder and leader in the Green Dot system. We discussed in detail the Green Dot philosophy, history, business plan and operations. Green Dot incorporates key aspects of teacher-led schools in a 100% union environment (consistent with Albert Shanker’s original charter school vision).

Green Dot traditionally created and operated independent charter schools. More recently it has developed a program for contracting directly with school districts to assume operating control of non-performing district schools and turn them around. We found this concept to be of great interest as it represents an additional education innovation option in between the district and charter models. Also noted was Green Dot’s self-developed intensive teacher recruitment interview protocols to ensure they hire and retain only the highest quality teachers comporting with Green Dot standards and school culture which is similar to the goals of the High Tech High teacher certification program. Green dot also practices student centered protocols by emphasizing the educational needs of the individual student in a collaborative and supporting environment that is also very conducive to support project based learning.

The Green Dot administrative approach is like Finland’s in that the “principals and administrators” act as mentors, advisors and collaborators in support of the teachers. In this regard, Green Dot has developed a criteria for selecting administrators to make sure they fit in with the Green Dot collaborative school culture. Of interest to us is that Green Dot has achieved some success in attracting teachers with Ph.D. degrees out of private sector positions into its teacher corps.

http://www.kclibrary.orghttps://www.ted.com/talks/michael_bierut_how_to_design_a_library_that_makes_kids_want_to_readhttps://www.ted.com/talks/michael_bierut_how_to_design_a_library_that_makes_kids_want_to_readhttps://www.ted.com/talks/michael_murphy_architecture_that_s_built_to_heal/discussion?languagenhttps://www.ted.com/talks/michael_murphy_architecture_that_s_built_to_heal/discussion?languagenhttp://greendot.org



INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE PROGRAM: We interviewed Ms. Jamie Quirk, an elementary teacher in the Springfield Missouri School District who is the International Baccalaureate PYP Coordina-tor for two of the three district elementary schools that utilize the IB program. On her recommendation, we contacted the IB Washington DC office who provided us with the basic process and costs associat-ed with becoming an IB PYP school. After reviewing the information, consulting with other education professionals we decided to accept the recommendation of Ms. Quirk and include the IB program in our school model.

FRANCINE DELANY NEW SCHOOL FOR CHILDREN: We interviewed Ms. Nancy Griffin, a long-time associate at the Francine Delany New School for Children (Ashville, North Carolina), regarding the history and operation of this successful high performing K – 8 teacher-led charter school now in its 20th year of operation. (Exhibit N – Bylaws of the Francine Delany New School for Children). We were espe-cially interested in the school’s unique teacher and parent led governance structure comprised of a “Direc-torate” made up of the entire school community with general authority and oversight over the school, an Executive Council comprised of rotating teachers that handles much of the day to day decision making and Board interface, teacher committees who are responsible for specific functions, and a Board of Directors made up of four teachers (who do not vote), four parents of children in the school, and three members from the community. While teacher-led this school also incorporates a well-defined organizational structuring around specific functions, responsibilities and decision making very similar to the professional partnership governance model discussed elsewhere. The school campus since inception has been modular (essentially double-wide trailer units) with an emphasis on green. Facilities upgrade is currently underway using Deltec modular building systems. Teacher retention is very high. Two of the founding teachers are still on the faculty. The school uses the federal Americorps program to supplement its teacher assistant resources. The Francine Delany school model is teacher-led but more structured that the Avalon School discussed elsewhere.

MONTE DEL SOL SCHOOL: Dr. Robert Jessen, Head Learner, Monte Del Sol Charter School (Santa Fe, New Mexico) was interviewed regarding his school’s award winning mentorship program and the Monte Del Sol Distinguished Visiting Artists Program. Of special interest was how the school’s separate endow-ment fund created simultaneously with the school and leveraged through a third party private lender, is used to own and help finance school facilities and supplement school operations.

AVALON SCHOOL: Mr. Tim Quealy, a long-time teacher at the teacher-led Avalon School (St. Paul, Minnesota) provided us with some very informative insights on the dynamics surrounding the creation and evolution of one of the oldest teacher-led charter schools in the country (approved in December, 2000). Of great interest to us is that Avalon has virtually 100% teacher retention even though its average teacher salaries (which are determined by the teachers) are lower than those in the nearby district schools. Mr. Quealy attributed this to the fact that the Avalon teachers loved to teach in an environment where they had control, autonomy and respect and used himself as an example – he started out as a teaching assistant then went to get his credentialing and has been at Avalon ever since.

Avalon School is structured around the small school model and is based on a highly personalized learning curriculum focusing on the individual student (student-centered model). This student-centered model

http://www.ibo.orghttp://fdnsc.nethttps://www.mdscs.orghttp://www.avalonschool.orghttps://www.educationevolving.org



is designed to provide strong teacher and student relationships incorporating advisory based activities to create a classroom environment that fosters curiosity, innovation, and problem solving Students have their own private work spaces. The school has a constitution formulated by the teachers and students that gov-erns school conduct and behavior with the objective of teaching Avalon students how to be collaborative and share responsibilities using democratic principles. Every aspect of the Avalon School is handled by its teachers – each of whom have an equal voice in the decision-making process. Most interestingly Avalon teachers also have the option, at their discretion, to split their time between teaching and administrative tasks. Level Up Academy in White Bear Lake, Minnesota is a good example of another successful school that utilizes the teacher-led student-centered protocols found at Avalon.

FINANCING SCHOOL FACILITIES: On the advice of Mr. Quealy at Avalon we interviewed Mr. Stephen Wellington, President of Wellington Management (St. Paul, MN) which oversees a $400 million dollar plus real estate portfolio, and who is Avalon School’s landlord. Wellington has made leasing to char-ter schools a specialty area within their company and are currently providing facilities to several charter schools in the Twin Cities area. Mr. Wellington shared some of the creative, but fundamental real estate financial and building criteria his company used in crafting spaces for lease to charter schools at costs in alignment with charter budgets. He is very knowledgeable of charter dynamics and indicated he intended to continue in the charter leasing market as the charter school population continued to grow. Mr. Wel-lington used Avalon School as an example of building flexibility into charter school leases. Avalon is cur-rently leasing in a multi-tenant former industrial building. It currently needs more space to accommodate projected enrollment growth which is easily handled by simply taking over an adjacent tenant space. Of interest, Mr. Wellington also indicated that when all of the available financing options were fully explored leasing a school space was often better financially for the charter school than owning space. Mr. Welling-ton encouraged us to thoroughly investigate our school facilities options in alignment with our school’s long term strategic plan.

TRANSIT: At our invitation, Matt Kauffman, former Chairman of the Kansas City Regional Transit Alliance, attended one of our initial community meetings and submitted a letter of support expressing the importance of locating the school within a public transit corridor consistent with state of the art transit oriented development principles. We also visited with officials of the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority to learn more about ways 3TPS could benefit from being situated within the Bannister Transit Corridor and maximum utilization of the KCATA’s growing services including the new 3-Trails Station facility on the northeast corner of the Bannister/Blue Ridge Blvd. intersection.

PROGRAM FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ASSESSMENT: We contacted the Program for In-ternational Student Assessment (PISA) which is a worldwide study of 15 year olds by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that started in 2000 and is repeated every 3 years. The goal is to provide comparable data to enable countries to improve their education policies and outcomes. The study is measures problem solving and cognition in daily life. We wanted to learn about the PISA testing regimen and test scores which indicate the United States scores are declining in comparison to the other participating countries. We requested they advise us when the PISA or other similar international testing protocols might be available for elementary students.

http://www.levelupacademy.orghttp://www.wellingtonmgt.comhttps://kcrta.orghttps://kcrta.orghttp://www.kcata.orghttp://www.kcata.orghttp://www.oecd.org/pisa/http://www.oecd.org/unitedstates/http://www.oecd.org/unitedstates/



EdVISIONS COOPERATIVE: We investigated the EdVisions Cooperative which operates a number of charter schools managed and operated entirely teachers inside of a cooperative legal entity. We also exam-ined the EdVisions Schools 36 school network in eleven states made up of small predominantly middle and upper charter schools many of which utilize various forms of the teacher-led school model. Of particular interest to us was the EdVisions School Design Essentials Checklist (Exhibit O) for selective inclusion into our school model.

EDUCATION EVOLVING: We interviewed Dr. Walter Enloe, Hamline University, a highly regarded educator who helped found the renowned teacher-led Avalon School. Dr. Enloe is a board member of EducationEvolving, an education think tank that is dedicated to stimulating innovation and creativity in schools. Dr. Enloe spent considerable time as an educator in Japan was also involved in the creation of the International Baccalaureate program. He provided us with extensive insights on the many benefits of teacher-led schools.

Lars Larson, Executive Director, Education Evolving and a graduate of the renowned teacher-led Minneso-ta New Country School (Henderson, Minnesota), shared his long term strategies for elevating teacher-led schools on a national basis as a matter of public policy and practical implementation. He encouraged us to keep the initial school model as broad and flexible as possible so that the teachers could take ownership in the school and make it their own. Education Evolving, can be counted on for mentorship and support in furtherance of our school as it moves toward forming a national network of teacher-led schools.

Ms. Amy Junge with the Teacher Powered organization (www.teacherpowered.org) provided us with ex-tensive information and available resources regarding teacher-led schools. Included in the information were two excellent publications: Trusting Teachers with School Success – What Happens When Teachers Call The Shots (Kim Farris- Berg and Edward Dirkswager with Amy Junge) and The Split Screen Strate-gy – How To Turn Education Into A Self-Improving System (Ted Kolderie). The Teacher-powered group is compiling an inventory of teacher-led schools across the nation with the goal of evolving into a formal association representing the teacher-led school movement. As found in the teacher powered literature, one of the obvious benefits of teacher-led schools is the potential to reduce the increasing teacher shortage by giving aspiring teachers (and those who have left the profession, but who would still love to return to teaching if it were recast into a professional environment) a career track where they can become acknowl-edged and well compensated professionals with the freedom, respect, and autonomy to teach.

We interviewed Professor Doug Thomas, founder of the Minnesota New Country School, founding pres-ident of EdVisions Cooperative, and an acknowledged expert in small schools, teacher leadership, inno-vative learning strategies and education as it relates to community development. He currently teaches a graduate course in educational reform and leadership at Minnesota State University-Mankato. Professor Thomas recommended that we utilize a non-profit school entity, instead of a cooperative entity model for 3TPS.

ACADEMIE LAYFAYETTE: A most informative discussion was held with Mr. Chad Phillips, President of the Board of Academie Layfayette (Kansas City, Missouri), currently one of the highest performing charter

http://edvisionscooperative.orghttp://edvisions.orghttps://www.educationevolving.orghttps://newcountryschool.comhttps://newcountryschool.comhttp://www.teacherpowered.orghttps://edexcellence.net/commentary/education-gadfly-weekly/2013/january-24/trusting-teachers-with-school-success-what-happens-when-teachers-call-the-shots.htmlhttps://edexcellence.net/commentary/education-gadfly-weekly/2013/january-24/trusting-teachers-with-school-success-what-happens-when-teachers-call-the-shots.htmlhttps://www.educationevolving.org/content/split-screen-bookhttps://www.educationevolving.org/content/split-screen-bookhttps://newcountryschool.comhttp://edvisionscooperative.orghttp://www.academielafayette.org



schools in Missouri, regarding general charter school logistics, and challenges including the operation of food service.

FINLAND EDUCATION SYSTEM: We looked very closely at the well-regarded Finish education system, in particular the process of how its teachers are educated and the structure and operation of the classroom teaching environment. We observed many documentary videos showcasing the Finish educa-tion system, including several featuring the renowned Finish educator, Pasi Sahlberg. Of special interest to us was the universal student-centered curriculum, the incorporation of the American polytechnic school model into the Finish upper education system, and the open-space school facilities model.

RON CLARK ACADEMY: We found Ron Clark Academy, a well performing non-profit charter middle school (Atlanta, Georgia) referred to us by an associate of Dr. Enloe, of special interest because of its un-usual curriculum combining rigorous academics with a fun and joyous student experience all contained within an architecturally stunning renovated warehouse similar to the renowned High Tech High Schools (San Diego, California) which likewise originated in a renovated industrial foundry building on a former Navy base.

PROFESSIONAL PREPARATORY CHARTER SCHOOL: We researched in great detail the teacher-led school, Professional Preparatory Charter School (Brooklyn, New York) also known as The Teaching Firms of America and the Ember Charter School, whose most innovative governance model is based on the tra-ditional law firm professional partnership, a proven governance structure that extends back for many cen-turies in the American-English legal systems. (Exhibit P – The Teaching Firm and the Partners Council of the Professional Preparatory Charter School). The Teaching Firm school model is a hybrid cross between the teacher-led cooperative (Avalon School for example) and the typical top down “factory” adminis-tration school. The teachers are in control, but within a structured teacher authority headed by teacher “Partners”, which suggests a more efficient and directed school decision making process that retains the traditional organizational benefits of independent oversight and carefully crafted internal checks and bal-ances while insuring teacher autonomy, collaboration, and professionalism in the operation of the school.

NAMASTE ELEMENTARY CHARTER SCHOOL: We looked closely at the unique curriculum of the Namaste Elementary Charter School (Chicago IL), a school that is bases its curriculum and culture on wellness as an integral part of its school model.

SUSTAINABILITY RESEARCH: We identified and examined schools whose missions are closely asso-ciated with our sustainability curriculum anchor such as: Kathleen Grimm School for Leadership and Sus-tainability at Sandy Ground (New York City), Environmental Charter School (Pittsburg Pennsylvania), SEEQS Charter School (Honolulu, Hawaii), and New Roots Charter School (Ithaca New York), looking for sustainability curriculum ideas we can incorporate into 3TPS.

CHARTER SCHOOL INNOVATION: “Raising the Bar – Why Public Charter Schools Must Become Even More Innovative,” by The Mind Trust (Indianapolis IN) and released in October, 2015, provided us with a wealth of great ideas for potential inclusion in 3TPS. This comprehensive and well researched study was particularly relevant in its discussions of innovative charter school start-up strategies, efficient use of facilities, and back-fill policies as they relate to the financial operation and sustainability of the school.

https://pasisahlberg.comhttp://www.ronclarkacademy.comhttps://www.hightechhigh.orghttp://tfoaprofessionalprep.orghttp://tfoaprofessionalprep.org/the-teaching-firm/http://tfoaprofessionalprep.org/the-teaching-firm/http://schools.nyc.gov/SchoolPortals/16/K406/default.htmhttp://namastecharterschool.orghttps://www.som.com/projects/the_kathleen_grimm_school_for_leadership_and_sustainability_at_sandy_groundhttps://www.som.com/projects/the_kathleen_grimm_school_for_leadership_and_sustainability_at_sandy_groundhttps://ecspgh.orghttp://www.seeqs.orghttps://newrootsschool.orghttp://www.themindtrust.org/connect/publications/raising-the-bar/http://www.themindtrust.org/connect/publications/raising-the-bar/



EdOPS: We engaged the consulting services of Mr. Paul Greenwood, Regional Director, EdOps, whose company focuses on providing high-value business management services to charter schools, to assist us in the financial modeling and feasibility assessment of our charter school model.

PROFESSIONAL OVERSIGHT OF BUSINESS OPERATIONS: We interviewed Mr. Dean Boeschen, Operations Manager for the Husch Blackwell law firm, which has over 700 attorneys and offices in 17 cities. We were interested in how the operational functions were handled by the lawyers within a professional partnership model. Mr. Boeshen provided us with a detailed description of the workings of the Husch organizational structure. He explained how the law firm oversees and manages the business/operational aspects of its practice while maintaining total autonomy and control over every aspect of the practice of law. He also suggested some practical refinements to our proposed organizational chart based upon his long experience working for law firm professional partnerships. Everything Mr. Boeschen shared with us supports the “inverted pyramid” teacher-led governance model with teacher professionals in con-trol is the best governance model for our school.

TED KOLDERIE: Mr. Ted Kolderie, author of: The Split Screen Strategy – How To Turn Education Into A Self-Improving System, granted us an extensive interview. We were very interested in his ideas about us-ing personalized learning to maximize student motivation, getting past the old institution of adolescence, broadening the concept of “achievement”, encouragement of “digital” to personalize learning, and opening the opportunity for teachers to work as professionals in a partnership. Of special interest to us was his con-cept that the future offers no assurance learning can be contained with the institution of school. According to Mr. Kolderie learning appears to be moving faster outside of school than within it. He concludes that if education fails to innovate and self-improve the learning process a likely outcome will be “bypass” and “disruption” leading to “outside validation” which would “tell the organizations to which young people seek admission far more about their capabilities and their readiness than the organization can learn from test, transcript, and diploma”. Mr. Kolderie is a strong advocate for and has extensive experience working with teacher-led schools. He is a co-founder of Education/Evolving and a supporter of the small schools model.

MO DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION: With the most capable assistance of Mr. John Robertson, DESE Office of Quality Schools, and his associates, we obtained Mis-souri education information including extensive data regarding teacher salary data for district and charter schools in the Kansas City region that we then incorporated into our financial modeling analysis.

SUCCESS ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOLS: The high performing Success Academy Charter School model, consisting of 46 schools and 15,500 students in New York City provided us with some very valuable insights into strategies for academic success, especially in the areas of school culture, discipline, academic rigor and student challenge. We watched several videos about the school presented by its founder Eva Mus-kowitz. For example, chess is played and a poem is read in every classroom at every grade level daily, no stu-dent is called by their first name, and teachers are free to use the “red pen” when correcting student work.

NEUROSCIENCE IN EDUCATION: We attended The Lean Lab October, 2017 presentation on “The Latest Neuroscience in Education” regarding the importance of incorporating the knowledge from

http://www.ed-ops.comhttps://www.huschblackwell.comhttps://www.educationevolving.org/content/split-screen-bookhttps://www.educationevolving.org/content/split-screen-bookhttps://dese.mo.govhttps://www.successacademies.org



emerging brain science into the educational process. Additional follow-up was made to Ph.D. candidate Wade Self, one of the presenters, regarding dedicated inclusion of neuroscience talent in our school gov-ernance model.

SCHOOL LEADERSHIP COUNTS: We reviewed the recent study “School Leadership, Teacher’s Roles in Decisionmaking, and Student Achievement” (Ingersoll, Richard M.; Sirinides, Phillip; and Dougherty, Patrick. (2017). CPRE Working Papers, University of Pennsylvania Scholarly Commons). The data for this study come from the Teaching, Empowering, Leading, and Learning (TELL) Survey which “has com-piled data from almost 1.3 million teachers and principals in over 30,000 schools in 23 states, from 2008 to 2014 … the Tell survey database is one of the most comprehensive and detailed sources of information on school leadership and school performance in the nation”.

The study independently confirms and validates our findings that a properly balanced teacher-led profes-sional governance model where teachers are, “ideally, first provided with the training, resources, condi-tions, and autonomy to do the job – then they are held accountable for doing the job well”, is most likely to produce the highest student academic and social performance. See also “School Leadership Counts.”1

Another recent study independently affirming our findings is “Evidence for Student-Centered Learning,” Krista Kaput, Education Evolving, January, 2018. On October 12 – 13, 2017 our findings were further independently validated when at a Symposium held by the NYC based Coalition of Community Charter Schools attendees unanimously approved formation of a new national advocacy organization Coalition of Public Independent Charter Schools grounded in the charter movement’s original principles of choice, accountability, democracy, and teacher empowerment.

In addition, we talked to many current and former teachers, educators, parents, business people, and com-munity residents about what they thought about the current education system, its strengths and weakness-es, and how it might be improved.

1 Ingersoll, Richard M.; Sirinides, Philip; and Dougherty, Patrick. (2017). School Leadership, Teachers’ Roles in School Decisionmaking, and Student Achievement. CPRE Working Papers. Retrieved from https://repository.upenn.edu/cpre_workingpapers/15/

https://repository.upenn.edu/cpre_workingpapers/15/https://repository.upenn.edu/cpre_workingpapers/15/https://newteachercenter.org/approach/teaching-empowering-leading-and-learning-tell/https://repository.upenn.edu/cpre_workingpapers/15/https://www.educationevolving.org/files/Evidence-for-Student-Centered-Learning.pdfhttps://www.indiecharters.orghttps://www.indiecharters.orghttps://repository.upenn.edu/cpre_workingpapers/15/



D – HOST SCHOOL DISTRICT:

1 – Location:

Hickman Mills C-1 School District (HMSD) is located about ten miles southeast of downtown Kansas City in Jackson County, Missouri. The district is approximately 56 square miles in area, and lies within the 5th and 6th Kansas City Council Districts. HMSD is bounded by the Raytown and Center School Districts on the north, Lee’s Summit School District on the east, Grandview School District on the south, and Center School District on the west. The district is bisected by three interstate highways: I-435, I-470 and I-49/Highway 71. (Exhibit B – Map of the Hickman Mills School District) The district administrative offices are located at: 9000 Old Santa Fe Road, Kansas City, Missouri 64137.

2 – Enrollment:

Eleven years ago in 2007, HMSD experienced a peak K-12 enrollment of 6,949. HMSD’s 2017 enrollment was 5,758, or, 1,191 students (17.13 %) less from a decade ago. When measured against historic data, HMSD’s current enrollment is 61.61% lower than its highest enrollment of 15,000 students in the early 1970s, when Kansas City’s suburban areas experienced a sharp influx in population. Overall, this represents a loss of 9,242 students. In addition to the K-12 enrollment, HMSD currently has 506 students enrolled in its early childhood program. HMSD is the first (and currently the only) public school district in Missouri to offer universal, free, early childhood education.

3 – Accreditation:

The district has been provisionally accredited since 2013. Provisional accreditation is defined as: Equal to or greater than 50% to 69.9% of the points possible on the State Annual Performance Report (APR). The 2017 HMSD report card from Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) scored the district at 65.4% vs. 67.9% in 2016, 59.3% in 2015 and 70.7% in 2014. Future district APR scores may be materially affected by scheduled lapsing of certain hold-harmless provisions DESE granted Missouri school districts so they had time to adjust to changes in state testing protocols. The most recent DESE statistics indicate HMSD is one of six provisionally accredited school districts out of a total of 518 Missouri school districts.

https://www.hickmanmills.org



4 – GreatSchools Rating:

The GreatSchools Rating is a national schools rating system. It is based on a 1 – 10 scale, where 10 is the highest and 1 is the lowest. Ratings are in three categories. The most recent GreatSchools academic ratings for HMSD schools are as follows.

HMSD School 1-3: Below Average 4-7: Average 8-10: Above Average

Ruskin High School 2: Very concerning

Smith-Hale Junior High 1: Extremely concerning

Hickman Mills Freshman Center *

Burke Elementary 3: Worrysome sign

Dobbs Elementary 2: Very concerning

Ingels Elementary 2: Very concerning

Johnson Elementary 3: Worrysome sign

Santa Fe Elementary 2: Very concerning

Symington Elementary 1: Extremely concerning

Truman Elementary 2: Very concerning

Warford Elementary 3: Worrysome sign

*Science proficiency of 17% vs. 53% for Missouri; English proficiency of 19% vs. 51% for Missouri, Math proficiency of 24% vs. 44% for Missouri.

https://www.greatschools.org



5 – Vital Statistics:

The 2016 racial composition include:

HMSD Missouri

Black 73.8% 15.9%

Hispanic 11.1 % 6.2%

White 10.4% 71.7%

Other 4.7% 6.2%

The district qualifies as 100% free-reduced lunch vs. 51.2% for Missouri.

The four-year graduation rate is 82.74% vs. 88.32% for Missouri.

The HMSD dropout rate is 5.2% vs. 2.1% for Missouri.

The district’s average total teacher salary is $47,141 vs. $49,760 for Missouri. The average total district administrator salary is $98,625 vs. $91,503 for Missouri.

The district’s average current expenditure per ADA is $11,759 vs. $10,899 for Missouri. District revenue sources are: 38.38% local; 46.39% state; and 15.22% federal vs. 59.07% local; 32.49% state; and, 8.44% federal for Missouri.

6 – Facilities:

The District’s main educational facilities are: Ruskin High School; Hickman Mills Freshman Center (for-merly Hickman Mills High School); Smith-Hale Middle School; Santa Fe Elementary; Dobbs Elementary; Truman Elementary; Symington Elementary; Johnson Elementary; Burke Elementary; Warford Elemen-tary; Ingels Elementary; Baptiste Education Center; Ervin Early Childhood Center; and, Frieda Markley Early Childhood Center.

The current five-year district master plan calls for Burke Elementary and Smith-Hale Middle School to be decommissioned at the end of the 2017 school year, with most of their current students being reassigned to the Baptiste Education Center and the Hickman Freshman Center facilities.

The majority of the district facilities were constructed before 1970. Facilities improvements are currently underway at Ruskin High School, Baptiste Education Center, Hickman Freshman Center and the ele-mentary schools funded through a capital improvements bond issue passed in early 2016. Data provided by the district during the bond campaign indicates the District is currently operating at approximately fifty percent (50%) facilities capacity.

7 – History:

The Hickman Mills area was first settled in the early 1800s following the Louisiana Purchase in 1806, Mis-souri Statehood in 1819, and Jackson County formation in 1826. Early settlement of this unique area was



driven in large part by the economic activity associated with the Santa Fe, Oregon, and California trails between 1821 and 1875. These early commercial and migratory pathways crossed diagonally through the northwest portion of the district on a common alignment. In modern times, this alignment is known as the “3-Trails Corridor” and forms a part of the nationally-recognized Kansas City Regional Trails system. The 3-Trails Corridor runs from Sugar Creek, Missouri, to Gardner, Kansas, a distance of 46 miles that will eventually become a retracement trail included as a segment of the Kansas City regional trails system known as the Metro Green Plan. A completed segment of the 3-Trails Corridor retracement trail crosses over HMSD property that also contains the district administrative offices, Hickman Freshman Center and Santa Fe Elementary School. HMSD donated the easement so this historic trail segment may be preserved into perpetuity.

This unique history is well-documented. Edward J. Willis, a member of a wagon train bound for California, camped at this district site on May 4, 1849, as recorded in his diary:

“Friday, May 4th (1849), Camp No. 3. Spent a most disagreeable night, having failed to pitch our tents. Hard rain came up about 12 o’clock at night and left us without any dry bed or bedding. Did not leave camp No. 2 until 3 o’clock P.M. On account of the rain and mud, our mules being unaccustomed to drawing together. The Georgia and Florida Co. teams found much difficulty in getting up the hills. Old Dominion came on smoothly. Our camp is well situated, on 2 ½ miles from No. 2. Grass tolerable, rain still continues. Music.”

With the support of the HMSD, the 3-Trails Corridor retracement trail segment across the district property was one of the first to be constructed in 2004. (Exhibit C – HMSD 3-Trails Corridor Segment). In addi-tion, district students from nearby Santa Fe Elementary assisted the National Park Service in the creation of interpretive panels that were installed along the school district trail segment. (Exhibit D – HMSD Student Interpretive Panel)

“The Santa Fe Trail carried primarily commercial traffic. The other two served west-bound travelers. A quarter of a million emigrants traveled the Oregon, and California Trails between 1842 and 1870, making it the greatest peacetime migration in the history of the world. Stretching across 2,000 miles, the trip took four to five months. As a result, the trails offered Missouri settlers an array of economic opportunities. Farmers, freighters, millers, manufacturers, wholesalers, wagon makers, bankers, bakers, traders, trappers, hunters, hustlers and outlaws – all found opportunities in trail traffic.” -- History of the Hickman Mills C-1 School District (2002):

The name “Hickman” comes from Edwin Alfred Hickman (born 1819) who, in 1840, rode horseback from Kentucky to Independence, Missouri, where he built a saw and grist mill. In 1854, he relocated south to

http://www.3trailscorridor.comhttp://www.marc.org/Environment/MetroGreen-Parkshttps://www.hickmanmills.org/domain/34https://www.hickmanmills.org/domain/34



Washington Township via. the Santa Fe Trail where he constructed a steam powered mill along a creek near the intersection of Hillcrest Road and Red Bridge Road. He believed that a community built in Wash-ington Township, an area bordering the open plains of the then Kansas territory, could also capitalize on the migrating market. Soon, the little town of Hickman’s Mill was flourishing, initially fueled by the three overland trails and later the railroad. Hickman’s Mill closed in 1859, a casualty of the financial panic of 1857. Edwin Hickman soon left to search for gold in Colorado; but, his legacy continues to this day in the school district name and the community’s identity, including: Hickman’s Mill (former town site); Hick-man Mills Drive; Hickman Mills Post Office Branch; and, the Hickman Mills Area Plan.

An early example of HMSD’s rich historical legacy is William Moutray, an 1843 patent deed grantee of one hundred and sixty acres which now includes the property where the Santa Fe Elementary School, the former Hickman Mills High School, and the former Administration Building are located.

“A small creek, known as Moutray’s Spring Branch, ran along the south boundary of William Moutray’s land fed, in part, by Moutray’s Spring located about 330 feet west of the intersection of Old Santa Fe Road and 91st Street. This area around the spring was a campsite on the national historic trails known as Russell’s Encampment mentioned in the diary accounts of trail travelers of that period. The 1840 census confirms that Mr. Russel owned five slaves. According to family history, Mr. Moutray later went on the California Gold Rush dying out there in January, 1849. His wife, Mary Fitzhugh Moutray, was of the same family who build the Watts-Fitzhugh Mill (Watt’s Mill) in the nearby Center School District at 103rd Street and State Line. HMSD’s historical legacy is directly connected to two of the most dominant themes in American history – slavery and the westward expansion”. Becky Grady, Historian

The first schools in what is now the HMSD were known as, “subscription schools,” created by early settlers as small, private schools to educate their children. If a parent did not serve as the teacher, the family hired a governess, or an itinerant teacher, a practice that originated in 1636 when Massachusetts colonists first hired tutors to teach their students how to read the Bible. In the subscription school system, each child’s family paid tuition to attend, typically a monthly stipend of $1.50/student. Using inflation calculators, $1.50 in 1850 would cost roughly $43.19 in 2016. These early learning institutions offered a basic but exemplary general education.

Following the Civil War, subscription schools gradually evolved into community schools typically orga-nized and funded by the small rural settlements they served. An example of a community school in this area was the Hart Grove School. (Exhibit E – Hart Grove School from Hickman Survey Atlas of 1874).



Interestingly, the Hart Grove School is a predecessor to the later Holmes Park School. Both schools were situated on the historic trails alignment on east side of Marion Park Drive across from Hart Grove Creek, which was a campground for the wagon trains during the historic trails era.

On May 14-15, 1846, the Donner-Reed Party, arguably the most famous wagon train in the American westward expansion experience, camped at the Hart Grove Campground en route to their rendezvous with starvation and death high-up in the snow bound California Sierra Nevada Mountains. Their stay at Hart Grove Campground was documented in the diary of Hiram O. Miller, a member of the wagon train party:

“14-15 Camped at “Heart Grove” Jackson County near the Indian line twenty two miles from Independence on the Big Blue”.

On May 30, 1839, Obediah Oakley, a member of a wagon train bound for Oregon, recorded his stay at the Hart Grove Campground in his diary:

“We proceeded only about 10 miles, to the west side of Hart Gove Creek, on the Santa Fe trail, 15 miles beyond Independence, near the western boundary line of Missouri. It is mostly timber country here, with farms scattered here and there at considerable intervals.”

In 1902, four community schools--Union Point (1855), Holmes Park (1870s), Rockford (1873) and Hick-man (1890)--merged to form the first consolidated school district in Missouri, Consolidated School Dis-trict No. 1, now known as the Hickman Mills C-1 School District. Total district enrollment was about 200, of which 24 were students in Ruskin High School, the district’s first high school, which opened in October, 1902.



“O.V. Slaughter was instrumental in the creation of the HMSD in 1902. Taking his young son Seth along in a buggy and showing him as “Exhibit A”, Slaughter, along with a delegation of four other men, personally canvassed the four rural communities before going to Jefferson City, Missouri to influence a favorable vote for rural school consolidation across the entire state. Slaughter’s roots are deep within the Hickman Mills community, his ancestors having first arrived in Jackson County in 1833 when his grandfather, Stephen Davenport arrived in an ox-drawn wagon.” (History of a Missouri Farm Family: the O.V. Slaughters, 1700-1944” by Stephen S. Slaughter, pub-lished by Harbor Hill Books, 1978)

After consolidation the district’s schools became publicly funded through taxes imposed on real estate in the district. After consolidation and through the end of World War II, the district experienced some growth, but essentially remained a small school district in a mostly rural and undeveloped area on the far outskirts of south Kansas City. Of historical note is that Harry S Truman once served on the school district board of directors during this time and before his ascent to the U.S. Presidency.

The district’s enrollment skyrocketed following World War II and the Korean conflict as the construction of the interstate highway system, coupled with generous federal housing mortgage programs, provided veterans easy access to affordable homes in new tract subdivisions being constructed in the rural outskirts of cities all over America. The Hickman Mills area became one of the first such post-war tract subdivision developments in the Kansas City region.

“Beginning in 1953, with nothing but farmland and using the post-war tract development of Levittown on Long Island, New York, as a model, Praver & Sons had developed the Ruskin Heights suburb. The concept of fast-built, tract housing was new to Kansas City, but the enormous numbers of returning veterans after World War II and the Korean conflict were eager home buyers. By April 1956, Praver & Sons completed 1,840 single-family residences using three to four architectural models on 629 acres. Large crews could pour 25 slabs in one day. Basements were $1,500 extra. A three-room, one bath ranch with no basement cost about $10,000. Major appliances were included. Veterans did not need down payments”. (History of the Hickman Mills C-1 School District, 2002)

Thousands of tract homes were constructed in Ruskin Heights, Ruskin Village, and other nearby subdivi-sions in the area around Ruskin High School. Most of these homes were without basements and came to be known as, “Ruskin slabs,” a term that is still in use today. As the new homes were occupied by young families and their children now known as the “baby boom generation,” district enrollment surged as the district transitioned quickly from rural into a heavily populated first tier subdivision ring of Kansas City.



On May 27, 1957, the infamous “Ruskin tornado” destroyed Ruskin High School, Ruskin Junior High School, and more than 600 homes with 37 people killed. Fifty businesses, including Ruskin Shopping Center, were completely demolished.

Following the tornado and through the 1960s, the district, “not only rebuilt two schools and restored an-other, it also constructed eight new schools: Johnson Elementary (1957), Symington Elementary (1959), Baptiste Junior High (1959), Warford Elementary (1961), Dobbs Elementary (1962), Ervin Junior High (1963), Ingels Elementary (1966) and Smith-Hale Junior High (1968)”. In 1960 district patrons approved the highest tax assessment for schools in the history of Jackson County, Missouri, demonstrating strong community support for the district.

Around 1959, most of the HMSD was annexed into the City of Kansas City, Missouri. A few years later in 1964, a proposal surfaced to have the district annexed into the Kansas City School District. Supporters argued annexation would mean more resources, lower school taxes and more efficiencies for the district. The annexation proposal was overwhelming rejected by the largest turnout in the HMSD’s history, under-scoring the community’s support for its school district and insuring that HMSD remained independent.

The enrollment surge continued, fueled next by “white flight” out of the Kansas City School District fol-lowing the Brown vs. Board of Education decision, and the beginning of integration in the Kansas City Public Schools. Historians generally credit widespread housing blockbusting practices by the real estate industry in the Kansas City School District as one of the principal causes of this migratory phenomenon. At the same time, the Kansas City School District was beginning to decline financially and academically as thousands of families who could afford it abandoned the district to move out to surrounding suburbs like Hickman Mills further depleting the school district finances and accelerating the white flight out of the Kansas City Public Schools.

During this period all of the incoming population into the HMSD was white mostly comprised mostly of “blue collar” middle class families. This demographic is evidenced today by the modest tract housing built to accommodate it throughout much of the district in subdivisions like Loma Vista, Fairwood, Fairlane, East Fairlane, Robandee, Avalon View, Hillcrest Heights, Terrace Lake, St. Catherine’s Gardens and Sky-line Heights.

By the 1967/68 school year, the district growth rate was almost 1,000 students per year resulting in split shifts for several years while the district scrambled to construct new facilities fast enough to accommodate the massive influx of school age children.

During this period of tremendous growth the HMSD was recognized as being one of the top performing school districts in Missouri. In June 1960, HMSD received Missouri’s highest rating, AAA which made it even more attractive for relocating families looking for a better neighborhood and good schools, soon to include minorities seeking the same thing. In 1968, Robert and Ida Gatewood became the first black family to own a home in the district. That same year their children, Robert Jr. and Gay-lin Gatewood, became the first black students in the HMSD.



The opening of the district’s second high school, Hickman Mills, in 1973 most likely represents the dis-trict’s high-water mark. At that time, HMSD had upward of 1,500 high school students alone, an out-standing academic reputation, and a solid economic base anchored by the Bannister Mall, then the largest generator of sales tax in Kansas City resting on a stable owner occupied residential housing base.

Beginning around 1980, the South Kansas City area started to decline, driven primarily by out-flight to newer housing and retail developments in newer tiers of suburban settlement in every direction, including: Lee’s Summit, Eastern Independence, Blue Springs, Raymore-Peculiar, Olathe/Johnson County, north of the Missouri River and Liberty. The literature indicates this out migration from the district was more the result of economic factors than racial. Essentially, a middle class comprised of white and minority constit-uents preferred to relocate to areas perceived to be safer and with better housing and educational opportu-nities. The out-flight population was replaced by lower income, mostly black families, many of whom were being displaced by gentrification occurring in downtown and midtown Kansas City…and, from tradition-ally black neighborhoods that were experiencing increases in crime activity. Like their departing predeces-sors, the new arrivals to HMSD were in search of affordable housing, a safe place, and a school district that was still much better than the Kansas City School District they were leaving.

Retail evaporation quickly followed the new rooftops in the outer rings depressing real estate values, both commercial and residential. Over time the HMSD area acquired a reputation for crime and not being safe, especially after the Bannister Mall put up elevated guard shacks in its parking lots. This period is charac-terized by the cessation of new housing construction and a gradual, but steady shift in demographics from mostly middle class (white and minority) to predominantly lower income black. As to be expected HMSD declined in tandem with the surrounding area and the student demographics it served resulting in signif-icant loss of student population, a much higher concentration of poor “at-risk” highly transient student population, an eroding tax base, underutilized buildings finally culminating in the loss of full accreditation in 2013. The literature clearly indicates the pattern of decline in the HMSD is not unique, rather parallels the history of typical first tier subdivisions throughout the United States. The literature characterizes the current HMSD situation as one of an urban populace residing in a suburban infrastructure.

Recent economic development such as the massive Cerner Innovation Campus on the site of the old Ban-nister Mall projected to house 16,000 employees

Documents

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