Reimagining Schools at Maker Faire Kansas City

A young girl speaking on screen

Organizers call Maker Faire the Greatest Show (And Tell) on Earth, and Kansas City held its eighth annual version of the international event at Union Station in June. The two-day faire drew crowds to celebrate all things creative — from science to art and anything in between. As part of our Take Note education project,…

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Connected, Collaborative, Personalized: Hear KC’s Ideas for the School of the Future

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation recently hosted the Rethink Ed conference in Kansas City, a gathering that drew more than 300 attendees from throughout the region, including business leaders, educators, and high school students. The central question of the conference was this: “What are the skills, abilities, and mindset high school students need before graduation…

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Take Note: Education Series Returns with a Focus on the Future

a boy writing on a board

In the Kansas City region, the story of education has many chapters. And with the publication of this video, Flatland picks up that story again through the Take Note project we launched last year. We will build on many of the themes we explored through our initial content, including health, safety and school choice. Our…

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Wide Racial Gap Exists Between Teachers and Students in Jackson County Schools

curiousKC a teacher and his student at Center high school

By Lauren Langdon, Humera Lodhi and Tess Vrbil Janely Griffith Gonzalez realized the disconnect when she chaperoned field trips at Meadow Lane Elementary School in Lee’s Summit. Her 8-year-old daughter was in a class of mostly minority students, but the school had very few minority teachers. On one trip, a student started yelling on the…

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Which Schools Are Integrated?

An apple divided in half

Lisa Gooden was set on finding the right school for her children in Kansas City. The choices were complex — public, private, charter, signature — but she felt good about all the buildings she visited. There were probably a dozen or so public elementaries within a couple miles of her neighborhood, so she didn’t understand…

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