Holiday Cards

This year we are recycling cards from the past three years and including an insert listing a few of the district's achievements in 2009.

Holiday Card Insert:

During this holiday season, we in the Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools are full of gratitude for the year that is passing. It has been, in many ways, a difficult year, with the most challenging fiscal environment we have faced in many years. Still, we have a lot to be proud of, and thankful for, including the following:

• Even as state standards become more challenging, more schools are making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). This year, 25 schools made AYP in both reading and math, and an additional 11 schools made it in one subject.

• District-wide, 62% of students met the standard in reading, up from 11% in 1996. In math, 63% met the standard, up from 3% in 1996.

• Three schools, Eugene Ware Elementary, West Middle, and Sumner Academy of Arts and Science, received Challenge Awards, which recognize Kansas schools that are making a notable difference in student achievement.

• The Laptops for Learning program, which has provided an Apple MacBook computer for every high school student, continues to thrive. The district hosted an Apple Learning Leadership Institute, sharing the success of the program with educators from around the country.

• Dr. Jill Shackelford, our superintendent, was the Campaign Co-Chair for the Wyandotte County United Way Campaign. The generosity of our staff and students allowed us to raise $113,551.47, exceeding our campaign goal.

• U.S. News and World Report is the latest magazine to honor Sumner Academy of Arts and Science as a top high school in the nation. The magazine ranked Sumner Academy as the 62nd best in the entire country. Sumner is the only school in Kansas to make the Top 100 list.

These are but a few of the many accomplishments that made 2009 a successful year. We enter 2010 with pride in the year that has passed, and hope for the year that is to come. We look forward to working together with you to build an excellent school district.

2008 Holiday Card:

Wishing you all the joy, hope and wonder of the season!

Artwork by Dayton Borisout, Grade 4
Sarah McGraw, Art Teacher
Stony Point North Elementary School

2007 Holiday Card:

May the joy and beauty of the season bring you happiness.

Artwork by Aranzazu Perez, Third Grade
Helen Windhorst, Art Teacher
New Stanley Elementary School

2006 Holiday Card:

Warmest Wishes for a Joyous Holiday Season

Artwork by Maria Hernandez
New Stanley Elementary School