Kansas City

  • The achievement gap in Kansas City impacts over 30,000 kids growing up in poverty.

  • The district has embraced a platform of reform in recent years. The initiatives include recruiting high quality teachers, in part by increasing Teach For America's presence.

About Kansas City

Not all kids in Kansas City are afforded the same educational opportunities. By the time they take the Missouri state exam in the third grade, students in Kansas City Public Schools (KCPS) have already fallen significantly behind their peers in more affluent Lee’s Summit in reading and writing. This gap only continues to widen throughout their time in our system.

When Teach For America opened in Kansas City in 2008, the prevailing notion was that the problems in education were unsolvable. By and large the community lacked faith that substantive change was possible. Today, partially because of the work of Teach For America corps members and alumni, Kansas City has embraced the potential of reform. As we see classrooms and schools that are turning around, community and civic leaders feel a newfound sense of optimism about our collective power to overcome the challenges that have plagued our schools for decades.

At this unique and exciting moment in time, Teach For America – Kansas City, along with our schools, community partners, and state, is working to ensure we have leadership necessary at every level to provide all students in Kansas City with the educational opportunities they deserve.

Leadership

Alicia Herald
Executive Director
2000 Baltimore Ave Suite 300
Kansas City, MO 64108
Tel 816-753-0774
Fax 816-753-0764
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A Kansas City native, Alicia Herald graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in 2005, received her Master's in Elementary Education from Loyola Marymount University in 2007, and recently completed her executive MBA at Washington University.

While teaching as a corps member at Figueroa Street Elementary in Los Angeles, Alicia was inspired by the dramatic results in her students' performance and the community's increased engagement in the school. After the corps, Alicia joined staff as a recruitment director. She is thrilled to be executive director of Teach For America • Kansas City, with the opportunity to work on closing the achievement gap in her hometown.

Regional Stats

2008
YEAR TFA ARRIVED
50
CORPS SIZE THE FIRST YEAR
223
CORPS SIZE THIS YEAR
12,000
STUDENTS REACHED YEARLY
65%
ALUMNI IN EDUCATION
3
ALUMNI SCHOOL LEADERS