Friends of Hale Cook 2013 Feasibility Study

halecook.org
Hale Cook Neighborhood School
Feasibility Study
The future starts here.

A very special thank you to everyone who spoke
up, lent a hand, and helped us along with the
development of this study and throughout our
effort to open Hale Cook Neighborhood School.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Ashley Z. Hand, Chair
Paul Bartel, Vice-Chair
Sarah Darmitzel, Treasurer
Susan Stocking, Secretary
Sara Wiercinski
Carrie Zerillo
ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Betty Kalahurka
Bill Kalahurka, CFP
Capital Consultants
Dr. Phillip Hickman
Genesis School
Kate Migneron
Children’s Mercy Hospital
SJ Miller, Ph.D.
Institute of Urban Education
University of Missouri-Kansas City
Greg Patterson
Greg Patterson & Associates
Tom Pickert
Logan Logan & Watson, LC
John Sharp
City of Kansas City, Council District 6
Peter Sloan
360 Architecture
Richard Wetzel
Centric Projects
Jennifer Wolfsie
Border Star PTA
COMMUNITY SUPPORT
AECOM
This Feasibility Study is dedicated to all the
students of our public schools — past, present
and future.

Feasibility Study
Prepared for the Kansas City Public Schools
by Friends of Hale Cook
January 1, 2013
halecook.org

Executive Summary
Introduction
Our Proposal
About Friends of Hale Cook
School Vision
Study Purpose + Methodology
Defining the Neighborhood
Year One: Potential for Enrollment
Challenges
Opportunities
Conclusion
Appendix A: Letters of Support
Appendix B: Survey
Appendix C: Survey Results
Contents

We do not inherit the earth from
our ancestors. We borrow it from
our children.
— African proverb
Executive Summary

7
Executive Summary
With 27 superintendents in 35 years, the lack of accreditation and stability in Kansas City Public Schools (the
“District”), many have lost confidence in our public schools and believe Kansas City has turned its back on the
problem. Countless stories in the media focus exclusively on the controversy, school closings, violence, and failed
leadership, prompting many families to figure out a way to pay for private school, relocate to area districts when
their children become school-aged, or simply never reside in Kansas City.
This does not move Kansas City or the District forward. Losing residents and potential students has significantly
impeded the District’s ability to become stronger through socioeconomic and racial diversity because it is directly
responsible for the loss of current and future citizens, who would otherwise provide this spark.
Improving public education in Kansas City and restoring the District’s reputation is imperative. It must be the
number one priority among our city’s leaders and stakeholders.
A new approach — Hale Cook Neighborhood School
Friends of Hale Cook, an all-volunteer organization, proposes to open Hale Cook Neighborhood School in the
Fall of 2013, as a neighborhood district school, with high parental and community involvement for academic
excellence. Through grassroots community engagement, Friends of Hale Cook has sought to foster a strong sense
of ownership through partnership with the District, neighborhood and other stakeholders by building a vision for
a neighborhood school that will not only serve elementary-aged school children but the entire community.
At the behest of Superintendent Stephen Green, Friends of Hale Cook developed this feasibility study to justify
opening Hale Cook Neighborhood School in the currently mothballed Hale Cook Elementary building at 73rd and
Pennsylvania. As part of this undertaking, Friends of Hale Cook conducted an extensive survey of the surrounding
neighborhoods. The results demonstrate overwhelming support and interest in opening Hale Cook Neighborhood
School, which indicates that the school would sustain organic growth if opened. As such, we propose the District
open Hale Cook Neighborhood School as a Pre-K and Kindergarten program in Year One and expanded to a first
grade as enrollment allows. With each year, new grades and teachers can be added and the school will fill up as
the students grow up.
Although the neighborhood school model as proposed is new to Kansas City, it has been successful in other
troubled school districts, including the Chicago Public Schools. The precedent for success is there. A successful
Hale Cook Neighborhood School will be a concrete example of the District’s responsiveness, its support of
engaged parents and communities, and its ability to seek innovative solutions to the many challenges the
District currently faces. Hale Cook Neighborhood School is a blank slate. Providing a seat at the table for the
community through Friends of Hale Cook ensures a sustained commitment to quality education and partnership
with stakeholders. Thus, its success will help restore the District’s reputation and will serve as a model that can
be replicated across the District. Hale Cook Neighborhood School will also reconnect a part of the city that has
disengaged from the District with the potential to enroll new students and increase the district-wide diversity of
the student body.
While opening a public neighborhood school will have its challenges, they are justified by the many opportunities.
Friends of Hale Cook has shown through two years of outreach and perseverance that NOW is the time to adopt
a new approach to public education in our neighborhood and our community is ready. The future starts here.

If I am not for myself, then who will be for me?
And if I am only for myself, then what am I? And
if not now, when?
— Hillel
Introduction

9
Introduction
Hale Cook Elementary is currently a mothballed school at 73rd and Pennsylvania. The vast majority of residents
with school-aged children in the surrounding area do not send their children to Kansas City Public School
District schools. For nearly two years, Friends of Hale Cook has dedicated thousands of volunteer hours to raise
community awareness and support for opening Hale Cook as a neighborhood public elementary school in an
area of the city that currently does not use the public school system.
If Hale Cook remains mothballed, the District will continue to accumulate deferred maintenance cost, while
missing an opportunity to re-engage the surrounding area with an innovative, community-based education model.
If the community surrounding Hale Cook continues to dismiss public education as an option for their children,
the District will continue to forgo a substantial pool of students. And, if those residents leave the city when their
children approach school-age, as suggested by Friends of Hale Cook survey results, Kansas City will lose current
and future citizens who contribute to the vibrancy of the city.
The following study outlines our process and the results of a multi-year community-driven strategy to open Hale
Cook at 73rd and Pennsylvania as a neighborhood elementary school. With testimonials and letters of support
from a diverse group of community stakeholders, research pointing to the potential for success with a highly
involved parent and community base, and more than 555 survey responses providing feedback on the initiative,
we conclude that not only is it feasible to reopen Hale Cook as a viable public elementary school but the timing
of this initiative is perfect as new city and District leadership sets a course towards a brighter future for all
Kansas Citians.
Some minor revisions have been incorporated into this final draft since the original presentation the Kansas
City Public School District administration in November 2012 with their guidance and perspective as professional
educators.

11
Our Proposal
Friends of Hale Cook, with the support of our
community and neighbors, is asking the District to
open Hale Cook Neighborhood School in Fall 2013.
This is an unprecedented opportunity to attract new
families and students back to the public schools at a
time when we must rally behind the District to foster
an even broader network of support and resources
and progress towards reaccreditation.
Friends of Hale Cook proposes the following be
adopted for Hale Cook Neighborhood School:
• Organic Growth: We propose the District open
Hale Cook Neighborhood School as a Pre-K and
Kindergarten program in Year One and only
expand to a first grade if enrollment numbers
allow. With each year, new grades and teachers
can be added and the school will fill up as the
students grow up.
• Principal Autonomy: The District should hire
an educator who is committed to the vision
outlined by Friends of Hale Cook and who will
be accountable for its success. Additionally, the
Principal and administrators should be given
the autonomy to foster an environment of high
academic achievement that is also reflective of
the community and its culture.
• Teacher Stability: The District should hire teachers
to teach at Hale Cook Neighborhood School and
provide them and their administrators with the
stability they need to make this new school a
success.
• Community Empowerment: The District should
commit to giving Friends of Hale Cook a seat at the
table when it comes to the hiring and dismissal of
a principal and inclusion in major policy decision-
making processes. We are committed to seeing
this District flourish and hope to work with the
District and school administrators as advocates
and partners moving forward.
• Academic Success: The District should consider
Hale Cook Neighborhood School an opportunity
to implement a model for all District schools.
With new staff and no legacy of ill-will, Hale Cook
Neighborhood School should be considered
an opportunity for programs in early childhood
development, special education, sister schools,
etc. that could serve the broader population while
still focusing on teaching the common core and
exceeding state requirements for accreditation.
• Parents (and Community) as Teachers: Hale Cook
Neighborhood School should provide opportunity
for parents and community members to become
engaged with students and get involved with
the school itself. Parent contracts to promote
involvement and establish a standard expectation
among all parents should be included as part of
enrollment. Friends of Hale Cook can help provide
support and volunteer coordination as necessary
to ensure administrators and teachers are not
distracted from their primary responsibility:
teaching our children.
• Neighborhood School: Based on our study,
Friends of Hale Cook recommends the following
boundaries for Hale Cook Neighborhood School:
Brush Creek to the North; Troost Avenue and
The Paseo to the East; 75th-77th-79th Streets
to the South and State Line Road to the West
(see Figure 1). Elementary-aged children who
live within these boundaries should be given
the option to attend either their existing District
school (Hartman Elementary, Paige Elementary,
or Troost Elementary) or Hale Cook. The District
should ensure that school boundaries are not
altered without a significant change in demand
or school population to provide stability. Students
enrolled should be allowed to finish their entire
elementary education at the same school and
siblings should be allowed to attend the same
school together.
• Community Bridge: Friends of Hale Cook would
like the support of the District to create a sister
school program to develop opportunities for
students to engage across elementary schools
as they prepare to enter Southwest Early College
Campus. Friends of Hale Cook would like to
engage students, parents, and volunteers from
across the District to help leverage resources and
opportunities for all students and foster a culture
of engagement and partnership with the broader
community. By incorporating technology such as
Google Fiber to connect students digitally and
creating unique opportunities to meet and learn
on common ground, Friends of Hale Cook can
bring greater diversity to the District at-large.
• Community Center: The District should consider
mixed use alternatives to occupy the building to
help cover the initial costs of overhead while the
school reaches capacity. Expanding opportunities
for community and education-focused programs

12
Hale Cook
Neighborhood School
Border Star
Academie
Lafayette
Hartman
Elementary School
can attract neighbors to Hale Cook beyond the
school day and establish the building as a center
for civic engagement. The building itself could be
easily partitioned if a physical separation of uses
is preferred.
• Innovation: The District should embrace principles
of sustainability, incorporate new technology
such as Google Fiber into the classroom, promote
community engagement and volunteerism as
opportunities to create civic-minded students that
will positively contribute to our city as a whole.
While the challenge of opening a public neighborhood
school may seem daunting, Friends of Hale Cook
is committed to providing ongoing support for this
school — its teachers, administrators and most
importantly — its students. As an organization, we
have sought to foster partnerships and build a strong
network of community stakeholders that will provide
resources and human capital for all of our public
schools by creating a model for engagement that can
be replicated across Kansas City.
Figure 1: Boundaries for Proposed Hale Cook Neighborhood School as proposed by the Kansas City Public Schools.

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STRATEGIC ACTION PLAN
As Friends of Hale Cook, we are committed to not only the opening of Hale Cook Neighborhood
School but to a sustained involvement for future administrators, teachers and generations of
children. We commit to the following goals to guide our organization in support of Hale Cook
Neighborhood School:
Goal 1: Attract new students to Kansas City Public Schools who would otherwise attend
private, charter, or relocate to attend schools outside the District.
Goal 2: Ensure high performance of all students to maintain accreditation of Hale Cook and
bolster accreditation standards for the District.
Goal 3: Establish community partnerships with business, institutions, and community groups.
Goal 4: Establish culture of high parental engagement, volunteerism of both students and
families, healthy individuals, multiculturalism, and environmental stewardship.
Goal 5: Improve school facilities to be a highlight of the community to be used as many hours
of the days and as many days of the year as possible by all members of the community.
Goal 6: Supplement the District’s funds through grants and fundraisers.
Goal 7: Establish model pilot program of inclusive special education to improve the District’s
performance of special needs students.
Goal 8: Increase diversity and awareness of all cultures through local, national, and
international sister school partnerships.
Goal 9: Increase community awareness of Southwest High School and attract more families
to enroll children in the District through high school. Get involved!
Goal 10: Building relationships and trust by supporting a vibrant pre-K program to feed the
grade school.

15
About Friends of Hale Cook
In Fall 2010, members of the Ward Parkway
Homes Association approached their School Board
representative with questions about the future of the
mothballed school at 7302 Pennsylvania Avenue,
located in the heart of their residential neighborhood.
Last open in 2009, Hale Cook Elementary School
was closed prior to Superintendent John Covington’s
2010 Right-Sizing Plan and retained for future use
by the District. Two informal meetings were hosted
within the neighborhood to assess community
interest in opening the building as a school and each
meeting was well-attended by interested parents. By
December 2010, the District had provided a target
enrollment of 350 new-to-the-District students and
agreed to reopen the building if the community could
find enough interested parents to enroll their children
by March 2011. With that, the committee Friends of
Hale Cook was launched to champion this initiative.
Over the next three months, community volunteers
mobilized, going door-to-door, posting yard signs,
hosting community meetings and open houses to
raise awareness and facilitate a discussion about the
benefits of reopening a public elementary school in
the neighborhood. The District-proposed boundaries
were expansive - from Brush Creek to 75th Street,
State Line to Holmes Street - with no transportation
to reduce the cost of school operations. The goal
was to attract a population of students who would
be new to the District to avoid poaching students
already attending area schools such as Troost and
Hartman Elementary. While the initial grassroots
effort fell short of the target in March 2011, the
committee determined there was enough interest in
the community to support this initiative and remained
committed to reorganizing and starting again for the
following school year.
In June 2011, Friends of Hale Cook signed a
memorandum of understanding with the District to
assist in mowing the lawn and build a butterfly garden
on campus. With a limited budget and dozens of closed
campuses to maintain, the District was only cutting the
lawn every three weeks and neighbors were concerned
that the property appeared abandoned and blighted.
Volunteers stepped up to help regularly maintain the
grounds and Friends of Hale Cook started a garden
to create a focal point and opportunity for additional
community engagement on the campus well before
the building was opened. The garden also provided
a visible activity to attract neighbors curious to know
more about what was happening while gauging
BUILDING COMMUNITY
In keeping with our vision, Friends of Hale Cook
has worked with the City of Kansas City to help
promote safe routes to school. In June 2012, we
asked the City to restripe crosswalks around the
school campus at intersections that did not have
a stop sign. With increased activity on campus,
this was important to ensure pedestrian safety in
accessing the site.
In early October 2012, Friends of Hale Cook
raised awareness about International Walk to
School Day, a global event where parents and
students walk to school, through our email and
social media network and by staging our own
walk to the future school.

16
support for on-campus, non-academic activities. The
garden flourished with very limited resources and
countless volunteer hours contributing to its success.
Recently, Friends of Hale Cook, in partnership with
Kansas City Community Gardens and Giving Grove,
received a grant and commitment of volunteer service
to build an edible forest and community garden
on campus from the Greater Kansas City Chamber
of Commerce Centurions Leadership Program. In
addition to this partnership bringing resources to
campus improvements, all food raised at Hale Cook
will be donated to a local food pantry and serve as an
educational setting for the neighborhood.
InFall2011,FriendsofHaleCookformallyincorporated
as a nonprofit corporation to support the enrollment
campaign to open the school and provide ongoing
community and parental support thereafter. While
enrollment forms were posted on the website for Fall
2012, the Board focused on creating a vision for the
school based on the feedback from the community
and stakeholders.
Over the past two years, Friends of Hale Cook has
hosted multiple community meetings, inviting parents
and other stakeholders to share their concerns
about education, ideas and vision for the future.
This inclusive process has helped build consensus
and support for the effort to reopen the school while
identifying some of the potential challenges that
might lie ahead. It was increasingly evident that the
original goal of 350 new students to the District in
Year One was unrealistic considering the building
capacity is 364. Additionally, with the departure of the
superintendent, several key District administrators,
and School Board representative Derek Richey, it was
evident that a long-term and more organic strategy
for opening Hale Cook, as well as providing stability,
would be essential to its success.
THE NUMBERS
11 Community Meetings
5 Open Houses
19 Community Work Days on Campus
1 Sunday Fun-Day
3 Waldo Community Markets
2 Brookside St. Patty’s Warm-Up Parades
15 Canvas Weekends
591 Email Contacts
280 Facebook Fans
Countless committee meetings, web posts,
and newsletter announcements to other
organizations.

17
School Vision
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
committed citizens can change the world;
indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead

18
School Vision
From the onset, Friends of Hale Cook established a
priority to create a replicable model for parent and
community engagement that could be passed to other
schools across the District. The goal is to establish
an organizational “toolkit” that will empower parents
and community members to mobilize in supporting
their local schools; help administrators and teachers
provide an environment for academic excellence;
coordinate often disparate community efforts to
assist schools; and create a constructive mechanism
for engaging the District in support of its students.
Friends of Hale Cook has focused on developing
outreach tools and a process for community
engagement while minimizing the resources required.
Relying predominantly on volunteer hours, Friends of
Hale Cook has accomplished the majority of its work
with essentially no budget and minimal use of District
resources.
Since Friends of Hale Cook first officially organized in a
coffee shop on Wornall Road in Waldo, the committee
has actively engaged a broad community to develop
a vision and outline priorities for a future elementary
school. By proactively seeking input from neighbors
and parents, Friends of Hale Cook is committed to
fostering a strong sense of ownership which will
help provide for a successful and sustainable school
model.
The neighborhood school model originated from the
proposition by Dr. Covington that Hale Cook would
not provide transportation, allowing more dollars
per student to be allocated to academic uses, and
therefore students would be drawn from a limited
geography around the school. Through research and
community feedback, it was determined that the
neighborhood school model is increasingly popular in
urban districts across the country and has appealed
to neighbors involved in the visioning process.
Parents are excited about the possibility of having a
public option located close to their home that would
eliminate the uncertainty of the current options for
enrollment while providing them with an accessible
venue for engagement.
Friends of Hale Cook also sought to create a vision
based on an existing model rather than create a

19
unique model without any precedent. Looking to
Chicago Public Schools, the organization studied the
Nettlehorst School case study where a group of active
parents partnered with school administrators and
teachers to revive a faltering school that was generally
regarded as a failure and ignored by its neighbors.
Friends of Hale Cook determined that combining this
high level parent and community engagement in the
proposed school, coupled with the already successful
pilot of standards-based curriculum that was
underway in Kansas City Public Schools at the time,
would create an environment of academic excellence
in the neighborhood.
Feedback also showed that there was a desire to
incorporate many community values into programming
at the school which Friends of Hale Cook would
like to support. By building partnerships with other
organizations, local businesses, and volunteers,
Friends of Hale Cook envisions a school that can
offer extended curriculum in the arts, mathematics,
sciences, languages and special needs programming
to serve all children in the community. In addition,
an emphasis on the “whole child” would foster an
environment for healthy lifestyles through physical
activity, nutrition, and environmental stewardship.
Since community engagement is considered
important to the success of this school, each child
would be given an opportunity to get involved in his
or her community through opportunities to give back
to our city.
Finally, the neighborhood school model means that
the Hale Cook would not only serve the elementary-
aged children of the area but would also provide
programming and opportunities for involvement for
the entire community, serving as a civic center for the
neighborhood. By making the facility accessible and
open beyond classroom hours, the community would
be welcome into the building to become a part of an
extended network of support and resources for the
school.
We moved to the Waldo neighborhood in 2005, shortly before our first child was born.
Almost everyone we met warned us about the KCMO school district, and recommended
private schools as the only option. It seemed to be an incredibly difficult path to navigate
because we couldn’t afford many of the private schools. Even though we loved the
Waldo neighborhood, there didn’t seem to be a school that felt like the right choice.
After a few years of contemplation, we decided that a move to Kansas would enable
our child, who was about to enter kindergarten, to attend a top-ranked public school
for free, which was within walking distance of our house. We wanted a school that was
supported by the local community, was in a neighborhood with many children, and was
close enough to our home that we could walk or ride a bike safely.
Had we had access to a community-supported neighborhood public school with an
excellent curriculum in Waldo, we’d have stayed. Many parents we talked to have
said the same, and have expressed a lot of interest in the possibility of Hale Cook
reopening. I hope this school receives all the support it needs and ultimately opens
to serve families in Brookside/Waldo who are caught in the same situation we were.
— Sarah & Matt

21
Study Purpose + Methodology
In late July 2012, Friends of Hale Cook met with
Superintendent Stephen Green to discuss next steps
in opening Hale Cook as a neighborhood public
elementary school. While there has been substantial
community interest, the organization was challenged
by the unrealistic goal of opening a building at
capacity in Year One. Each year that passed, the group
of interested parents would change when, upon notice
that the school would not be opened in the fall, they
would send their children to other schools and were
unlikely to consider Hale Cook again. It was evident
that it would be impossible to maintain a high level of
interest without a substantial shift in approach.
Dr. Green charged Friends of Hale Cook with
developing a feasibility study to understand how a
new elementary school would be supported by the
community, identify the potential student population
for the first few years, and delve into the risks and
barriers to opening the school. Rather than trying
to fill the school on Day One, Dr. Green appreciated
the need to grow the school more organically over
time. If a case could be made, Dr. Green committed
to advocating on our behalf to the School Board to
open the school in Fall 2013. Ever since, Friends of
Hale Cook, an all-volunteer organization, has been
working with the support of its advisory committee
and a diverse group of city stakeholders to mobilize
and develop a feasibility study to justify opening Hale
Cook Neighborhood School.
Study Methodology
Friends of Hale Cook maintains an active online
presence with a website (halecook.org) and Facebook
page (facebook.com/halecook) and an email listserv
through Constant Contact. The Friends of Hale Cook
Board developed an online survey which launched on
August 10, 2012 and distributed through our email
contact list, website, and social media. More than
1,000 door hangers were dropped in the immediate
neighborhoods adjacent to the school and encouraged
responses from everyone, not just families with
school-aged children. Outreach at local community
events such as the Waldo Fall Festival, Bright Horizons
Curriculum Night, the Waldo Farmers’ Market, and a
public information session at Coffee Girls in Waldo
provided opportunities for people to complete paper
versions of the survey.
In addition to media coverage on Fox 4 and
Channel 41 Action News, a front page article in the
Kansas City Star, and a feature story on KCUR’s KC
Currents radio show, Friends of Hale Cook engaged
survey responders through other organizations and
networks such as homeowners associations, parent
groups, and Everything Waldo to encourage input
and feedback while raising awareness. Volunteers
met with interested parents in local coffee shops,
the Waldo Public Library, and over the phone to
answer questions about the initiative and encourage
participation in the survey.
Survey results have been analyzed through the use
of GIS mapping and this Feasibility Study references
several other widely accepted case studies to help
illustrate the potential Hale Cook Neighborhood
School could offer to Kansas City Public Schools. The
raw survey data is also included in Appendix C and
this report has been reviewed by a panel of community
leaders for its accuracy and completeness.
Outreach
Friends of Hale Cook
volunteers left more
than 1,000 door hangers
at each home within
a half mile of the Hale
Cook campus to raise
awareness of the effort
and drive participation
in the feasibility study
survey. Outreach at
community events,
information sessions, and
media coverage helped
to raise awareness and
engage a broad group of
stakeholders to discuss
the future of Hale Cook.

23
Defining the Neighborhood
Friends of Hale Cook analyzed data from the 2010
United States Census and Multiple Listing Service
(MLS) to understand the demographics of the study
immediate area around the Hale Cook Neighborhood
School and then worked with the Kansas City Public
Schools to define a catchment area that works in
concert with other successful KCPS schools in the
area. Focus was given to four census tracts (the study
area) comprising the immediate school neighborhood:
Tracts 85, 86, 91 and 92. Key highlights from the data
identifies these trends among the 14,883 residents in
the study area:
• Most residents are well educated with higher-
than-average median household incomes;
• Most residents are homeowners;
• There is a lack of racial diversity in the study area;
• Total population of children under the
age of 5 in the entire study area is 1,053; total
population of children ages 5 to 9 years is 849.
63rd Street to Gregory Blvd.
State Line Road to Wornall Road
Total population: 3,383
Total population under age 5: 261
63rd Street to Gregory Blvd.
Wornall Road to Troost Avenue
Gregory Blvd. to 77th Street
State Line to Wornall Road
Gregory Blvd. to 77th Street
Wornall Road to Troost Avenue
Source: 2010 United States Census
Figure 2. 2010 US Census tracts and data within the study area.

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INCOME
The residents living in the study area have higher-than-
average levels of household income as compared to
the national and Kansas City median incomes. A low
percentage of residents in the study area live below
the poverty level. This market could sustain a tuition-
based pre-K program. Median household income for
the study area is $91,656.
PERCENTAGE BELOW POVERTY LINE
3.5%
4.0%
2.8%6.5%
RACE
Whites make up the racial majority with blacks as the
largest minority.
NUMBER OF FAMILIES BY CENSUS TRACT
Total number of families for study area: 3,794.
AVERAGE FAMILY SIZE BY CENSUS TRACT
Average family size for study area: 2.82
Figure 3. 2010 US Census Median Household Income
within Study Area.
Figure 4. 2010 US Census Race Percentages within
Study Area.
Figure 5. 2010 US Census Number of Families within Study
Area.
Figure 7. 2010 US Census Average Family Size within Study
Area.
Figure 3. 2010 US Census Percentage Below Poverty Line
within Study Area.

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Figure 8.NUMBER OF CHILDREN BY AGE GROUP, BY CENSUS TRACT
In the four census tracts examined, nearly all adults
age 25 or older are high school graduates and a
large majority are college educated. Studies suggest
a parent’s education affects the education of his or
her child.
Figure 9. EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT IN POPULATION 25 YEARS AND OVER
WHERE CHILDREN
ARE EDUCATED
A 2009 report funded by the Kauffman Foundation
finds that a very small percentage of school-age
children were enrolled in a District School. Though
zip codes do not exactly align with the proposed
boundaries and the census tracts analyzed in the
previous section, it is telling that so few parents in this
general area consider public schools as viable option. Source: Kauffman Foundation
Figure 10. Map of Zip
Code Boundaries.

26
Figure 11. TOTAL HOUSING UNITS AND
TOTAL HOMES SOLD BY CENSUS TRACT
Total homes sold, October 1, 2007 to October 1,
2012, for study area: 1,683
Figure 14. PERCENTAGE OF UNITS OWNED
Average housing ownership for study area: 85%
Figure 12. CURRENT HOMES ON THE
MARKET
Total homes for sale in study area: 116 as of
October 17, 2012
Figure 15. COMPARISON OF HOUSES
SOLD IN 2010 AND CHANGES IN CHILD
POPULATION
Total number of houses sold for study area: 283.
Total difference between number of children in age
groups for study area: 204
69
290
577
1,135
344
299
589
1,075
-
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
Public Pre-
Primary
Private Pre-
Primary
Public
Elementary or
High School
Private
Elementary or
High School
1990
2000
2010
Figure 13. SCHOOL ATTENDANCE
An analysis of the 2006-2010 American
Community Survey highlights the disparity in
numbers of those who attend public versus private
schools in the proposed Hale Cook Neighborhood
School catchment area.

Year One: Potential for Enrollment

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Year One
Through an analysis of the survey results and looking
at the capacity of Hale Cook, the following outlines
the potential to grow the school population organically
over the next few years.
Based on a 2006 Assessment by the School District,
the building is 44,165 square feet with 17 classrooms.
The capacity calculations were based on a 3rd through
5th Grade Program which is different from what
Friends of Hale Cook is proposing. The calculations
are as follows:
2006 Assessment
Grade
Number of
Classrooms
Number of Students
per Classroom
3rd Grade 8 Classrooms 25 Students
4th Grade 8 Classrooms 25 Students
Vacant 2 Classrooms 25 Students
362 Seat Capacity
The assessment also indicates that the building
has the potential for three additional converted
classrooms. With 25 students each, the total capacity
of the building with Grades 3-5 is 437 seats.
If early childhood or kindergarten through Grade
2 are included, the capacity calculations change
as the number of students per classroom is lower.
Kindergarten through second grade classes are
calculated at 22 students per classroom and early
childhood is calculated at 20 students per classroom.
Hale Cook Neighborhood School could potentially
attract and introduce 424 new students to the District
and continue on to Southwest Early College Campus
which is currently operating under capacity.
Using these numbers as the basis of our assumption,
the capacity for Hale Cook Neighborhood School as
a full Pre-K through Grade 6 program would be as
follows:
Total Potential Enrollment
Grade
Number of
Classrooms
Number of Students
per Classroom
Pre-K
(3 year olds)
2 Classrooms 20 Students
Pre-K
(4 year olds)
Kindergar-
ten
1st Grade 2 Classrooms 22 Students
2nd Grade 2 Classrooms 22 Students
3rd Grade 2 Classrooms 25 Students
424 Total Enrolled
POTENTIAL HALE COOK POPULATION
In analyzing the survey responses, the following
student enrollment can be estimated for the first two
years of operation:
2013 Potential Enrollment
Grade
Year One
Classrooms
Number of Students
(Most & Somewhat
Likely to Enroll)
Pre-K
(3 year olds)
Pre-K
(4 year olds)
Kindergar-
ten
139 Projected Enrolled (32.7% capacity)
2014 Potential Enrollment
Grade
Year One
Classrooms
Number of Students
(Most & Somewhat
Likely to Enroll)
Pre-K
(3 year olds)
Pre-K
(4 year olds)
Kindergar-
ten
199 Projected Enrolled (46.9% capacity)

29
23
9
7
3
29
6
2
5
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Kindergarten 1stGrade 2nd Grade 3rd Grade
Very Likely
Somewhat Likely
23
14
25
20
29 28 28
26
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
2013 Pre-K
(3 yrs old)
2013 Pre-K
(4 yrs old)
2014 Pre-K 2015 Pre-K
Very Likely
Somewhat Likely
Fall 2013
Enrollment Potential
Pre-K Potential
Survey responders indicated the likelihood of enrolling
their children at Hale Cook Neighborhood School over
the coming years as follows highlighted in Figures
16-17. With this response and the additional survey
data suggesting more parents are likely to enroll their
children at Hale Cook Neighborhood School once it
has been open for a couple of years, the school could
be at capacity within four to five years.
Figure 17. Feasibility Study Potential Enrollment for Pre-Kindergarten.
Figure 16. Feasibility Study Potential Fall 2013 Enrollment for Elementary School.

30
Hartman Elementary
Border Star Montessori
Southwest Early College Campus OakSt
TroostAve
MainSt
WornallRd
HolmesRd
WardPkwy
StateLineRd
55th St
59th St
63rd St
75th St
85th St
RockhillRd
Gregory Blvd
Meyer Blvd
W 47th St
GrandAve
BrooksideBlvd
PennsylvaniaAve
Volker Blvd
Emanuel Cleaver II Blvd
MainSt
StateLineRd
WardPkwy
Ward Pkwy
WornallRd
MainSt
OakSt
HolmesRd
TroostAve
85th St
63rd St
59th St
55th St
75th St
Rockhurst
St. Peter's
St. Elizabeth
Cavalry Lutheran
Pembroke Hill High
Academie Lafayette
Hale Cook
Elementary
0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1
Miles
Likelihood of Enrollment in
Hale Cook Elementary in Fall 2013
Legend
Likelihood of Enrollment
Existing School
No Response
Very Likely
Somewhat Likely
Not Likely
Figure 18. SURVEY RESPONSES:
LIKELIHOOD OF ENROLLMENT IN FALL 2013
Hartman Elementary
Border Star Montessori
Southwest Early College Campus
OakSt
TroostAve
MainSt
WornallRd
HolmesRd
WardPkwy
StateLineRd
55th St
59th St
63rd St
75th St
85th St
RockhillRd
Gregory Blvd
Meyer Blvd
W 47th St
GrandAve
BrooksideBlvd
PennsylvaniaAve
Volker Blvd
Emanuel Cleaver II Blvd
MainSt
StateLineRd
WardPkwy
Ward Pkwy
WornallRd
MainSt
OakSt
HolmesRd
TroostAve
85th St
63rd St
59th St
55th St
75th St
Rockhurst
St. Peter's
St. Elizabeth
Cavalry Lutheran
Pembroke Hill High
Academie Lafayette
Hale Cook
St. Paul's Episcopal Day
Elementary
0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1
Miles
Likelihood of Enrollment in
Hale Cook Elementary in Fall 2013
Legend
Likelihood of Enrollment
Existing School
No Response
Very Likely
Somewhat Likely
Not Likely

31
Challenges
Education. Everything is tied to that. A key issue to everything.... We
ought to be trying to find a way to make that happen [opening Hale Cook].
Because if we don’t find a way to make that happen, [concerned parents]
will find a way to make something else happen. And they may show their
displeasure with their feet. We need to be open to change. We need to
understand that by sitting back and thinking that we can protect this
system in some way, without breaking some eggs, without upsetting the
apple cart is simply not going to work.
— Mayor Sly James
Interview with Steve Kraske on KCUR, July 23, 2012

32
Challenges
Opening a new school in Fall 2013 comes with some
challenges which we have identified here.
A NEW SCHOOL IS NOT A PRIORITY
Kansas City Public Schools administrators, teachers
and students are all focused on raising the bar to
achieve accreditation over the next three to five
years. Improving academic performance and meeting
the needs of the current student population is the
first priority for the District and is an essential step
to reaccreditation. The perception of opening an
elementary school when many of the existing schools
are not at capacity and following the 2010 Right
Sizing initiative that closed 30 school buildings may
appear shortsighted and could frustrate stakeholders
in communities where local school buildings are now
being repurposed.
BUILDING START-UP COSTS
Since Hale Cook was closed in 2009, the building
has had little to no use. In 2011-2012, the building
was used as interim storage for District furniture to
be auctioned off to the public. Friends of Hale Cook
has hosted several open houses in the building but
otherwise the building remains idle. The roof of the
building is relatively new and generally the structure is
in good condition.
There is evidence of water damage in a few of the
classrooms from mechanical system equipment and
much of the kitchen equipment has been stripped
from the cafeteria. There are many finishes that need
to be replaced in the classrooms, hallways, and other
shared spaces including flooring, ceiling tiles, and
wall finishes and, according to the District, there are
significant mechanical system upgrades required.
While the community is eager to lend support in
painting and decorating classrooms, opening Hale
Cook will require an initial capital investment by the
School District to bring the mechanical system and
building operations up to code. The School District
has done a preliminary assessment of the building
under Dr. Covington and has recently returned to Hale
Cook to evaluate what might be required to reactivate
the building. This assessment is critical to determining
the budget for opening Hale Cook as an operational
building next Fall.
LACK OF CONFIDENCE IN KCPS
SECONDARY EDUCATION
TheFeasibilityStudySurveyindicatesthat70.2%(264)
Having already fostered an environment of high-
level parent and community involvement, Hale
Cook Neighborhood School could potentially
introduce a high-performing student body into
the District, attracting families that would not
otherwise have chosen public schools. As a
model for success, Friends of Hale Cook can be
replicated across the city and draw much-needed
resources into all of our schools.
Since the building has been mothballed to be
reopened as a school, the District should weigh
the benefits of reopening the building now in
lieu of waiting for more deferred maintenance to
accrue. Please see the rough estimate of costs
comparing the cost of deferred maintenance to
reopening the building sooner as provided in the
Appendix.
of responders would not consider a KCPS public high
school for their children, including schools such as the
high performing Lincoln Prep Academy and Southwest
Early College Campus which is located in Brookside.
According to Dr. Richardson, Principal at Southwest,
roughly 99% of his students are bused from across
the city to attend a high school with nearly no students
from the adjacent neighborhoods attending the
school. In conversations with community members

33
in the Brookside-Waldo area, there are many families
that did not even realize that Southwest is even open
or their awareness is limited to the negative media
coverage following the consolidation of the Westport
and Southwest student populations in 2011-2012.
Through a series of community information sessions,
Friends of Hale Cook has found that parents not only
consider what elementary school they will choose for
their children but they also think ahead to the options
that follow. Parents are deeply concerned about the
options once their children pass the sixth grade. The
Feasibility Study survey also indicates that there is a
lot of misinformation about the District accreditation
process and the impact this has on graduating high
school seniors. According to the survey results, 62%
(316) responders did not know that individual schools
are still accredited even if the District is not and
parents are concerned that their children may have
trouble being accepted into colleges if they attend a
KCPS high school.
LACK OF CONFIDENCE IN KANSAS CITY
PUBLIC SCHOOLS
With 27 superintendents in 35 years, the lack of
accreditation and stability in the District, our city
has lost confidence in our public schools overall.
Countless stories in the media focus exclusively on
the controversy, school closings, violence, and failed
leadership.TheFeasibilityStudysurveyoverwhelmingly
indicates that people are less likely to choose public
schools because the district is unaccredited (432 or
84.7%) and because there is a reputation for poor
performing schools and/or students (444 or 87%).
While many understand why the District closed 30
schools in 2010, the drop of enrollment from 75,000
in 1967 to 17,000 in 2012 is a key indicator of this
loss in confidence.
The loss of confidence impacts not only school
attendance, but also turnover in the community.
In reviewing the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), a
nationally recognized real estate listing service for
home sales, only three of 200 (1.5%) local listings
actually reference the public schools that potential
homeowners could consider if they were to invest in our
community. More than 84% (415) of responders have
neighbors that have moved from this neighborhood
to attend public schools outside of the District
which impacts not only potential enrollment but our
economic development, neighborhood stability, and
growth as a community at large.
Additionally, substantial turmoil as a result of the
Friends of Hale Cook is committed to building a
strong partnership with other District schools,
including Southwest Early College Campus. As
a Board, we have already engaged parents from
Border Star as well as the Principal at Southwest
and propose launching Friends of Southwest to
help build a comparable culture of community
engagement, celebrate the school successes,
and provide support as needed. This proposed
organization would not replace existing support
groups such as the Southwest Faith-Based
Coalition or School Advisory Council but provide
organizational capacity and resources to leverage
the efforts of each of these groups.
In addition, Friends of Hale Cook will partner
with other Southwest “feeder” schools to build
programs and exchanges early in the academic
careers to promote a strong culture for academic
success and build confidence in the District by
serving as community advocates and aligning
with the District’s zone model.
Building Hale Cook Neighborhood School into a
successful public elementary school can help
transform the District’s reputation for academic
excellence and make public school a strong first
choice for educating all of our children.

34
Friends of Hale Cook is committed to working
from within the District to achieve academic
excellence and provide much needed stability to
the system. In the short term, it may be easier to
find a partner charter organization with a national
reputation for success but in the long term this
community is founded on providing equity to
all students in the District by re-engaging the
broader public in the success of our schools.
The District must come to the table with a
commitment to community engagement in the
governanceoftheproposedneighborhoodschool.
Parents and neighbors should be confident that
Friends of Hale Cook will be at the table when
making major decisions, including the hiring of
school administrators and teachers, establishing
the school vision and boundaries, monitoring
progress and creating additional programming
to meet the needs of the community. In addition,
Friends of Hale Cook should remain transparent
in its operations and open to community feedback
to ensure it reflects the community it represents.
Jenkins v. State of Missouri case has left communities
asking if all of the money spent has truly desegregated
ourschoolsorperhapstheschoolsarenowdividedinto
those who can attend alternative, non-public schools
and those who are left to attend public schools. While
the issue of race is difficult to address in a city that is
still physically divided, our public schools have been
on the national stage in an effort to systematically
address desegregation through busing. When looking
at the breakdown of ethnic groups in the area public
schools, there is evidence that our public schools
are still lacking the diversity that should be more
representative of our city.
Community indifference and a deeply entrenched
negative perception of the District have pushed many
families to consider alternatives, if they are available.
Many Waldo residents could not locate Hartman
Elementary nor did residents of Armour Hills realize
that their District School is Satchel Paige Elementary,
located at E. 75th Street and US 71. According to a
2009 report funded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman
Foundation, less than 10% of school-aged children
in the Brookside-Waldo neighborhood attend public
school. While this percentage may have changed with
increased enrollment at Border Star, a local signature
school, in recent years, this is a high average of the zip
codes included in this study.
Parents in the community are saddled with long
waiting lists and competitive enrollment for both
Border Star and Academie Lafayette which draw their
populations from across the city. Stories of parents
lining up at 4AM to enroll their young children at
the signature Montessori school or landing 40th on
the lottery-drawn waiting list to attend the language
immersion charter causes a great deal of anxiety
for many young parents each spring as they must
consider alternatives when they do not get their first
choice. Additionally, parents new to the neighborhood
with older elementary-aged children have even fewer
options as these two programs require previous
enrollment in Montessori schools or French language
proficiency to start in the upper grades. Frustrated,
these parents are not turning to District schools such
as Hartman, Paige or Troost Elementary but figuring
out how to afford parochial schools, home schooling
children, or relocating outside of the District for better
public school options. Hale Cook Neighborhood School
can provide a viable alternative for the neighborhood
by fostering an environment of academic success that
reflects our community values, and help build the
overall District reputation to benefit all.
CHARTER VS. PUBLIC: THE ACADEMIE
LAFAYETTE EFFECT
From the very beginning of this process, Friends of
Hale Cook considered the governance model for
Hale Cook Neighborhood School and the option of
adopting a charter or contract school structure in lieu
of a public District-led school. With the success and
demand for neighborhood charter school Academie
Lafayette, there is a strong perception that the District
could not run a school as successfully as a charter
organization. In many communities, charter schools
are a model that does in fact increase access to better
public schools and local advocates for this model
have suggested that this would be preferable to the
instability of the District.
Consistent with this feedback, the majority of survey
responders would be more likely to support Hale

35
Cook as a charter school (42.3% or 127) instead of
a signature (22.6% or 68) or District school (17.6% or
53). However, the survey also indicates that there is
general support for the proposed Hale Cook model,
which has always been a District school, suggesting
that the differences in the governance structure
between a charter, District or signature school may
not be well understood. Additionally, according to the
Kauffman Foundation study, many of the District’s
charters have existed for more than 10 years and are
still not able to reach even half of the state standard
suggesting that this model may not be resolving the
challenges of accountability for academic success
and more options are needed.
LACK OF STABILITY: VICTIMS OF SUCCESS
A major barrier to opening a successful elementary
school is the lack of stability in the District and
the concern among parents that the school might
become a victim of its own success. Because of the
uncertainty around the proposed model, the ability to
hire and support a strong administrator and teachers,
and the school’s overall autonomy within the District,
parents are concerned that once the school is open,
it may be dismantled by the District. What guarantee
does a family have that the boundaries will not change
or that siblings will be able to attend Hale Cook
together? Alumni of Hale Cook share stories of the
many different schools attended over the course of
their elementary education – moved from school to
school as the District would redraw boundaries, close
schools, and shift children around.
SCHOOL FAILS: THERE GOES THE
DISTRICT’S REPUTATION (AGAIN)
Additionally, if Hale Cook Neighborhood School were
to fail, the District would lose credibility and may
receive backlash from those who may not currently
support opening the school. Considering the initial
capital investment required to open the building, it
would be difficult for the District to “save face” if the
school were to be closed again as there are many
places where these funds could be allocated.
DIVERSITY: A CITY-WIDE CONCERN
For many Kansas City residents, the billions of dollars
and decades spent on trying to implement policies
of integration in public schools is considered an epic
failure. While the District may have been left with
fantastic school facilities and Olympic size pools as
a result of this massive investment, schools are not
diverse with large minority populations and a high
percentage of low income students. In looking at the
racial composition in the proposed catchment area for
Hale Cook Neighborhood School, the neighborhood
lacks some of the desired diversity although there is
some socioeconomic diversity in the locally served
area. Ultimately, by reintroducing the population of
students that would attend Hale Cook Neighborhood
School into a District school, there is an opportunity
to make the overall District more diverse by bringing
a population of students that would not otherwise
attend public schools.
Hale Cook Neighborhood School seeks to foster socioeconomic and racial diversity to the District by
attracting new students one school at a time. As neighborhood elementary-aged children grow up in Hale
Cook Neighborhood School, Friends of Hale Cook will support a sister school program with other city public
schools to promote idea and resource sharing across schools and to create regular interaction among
future classmates. By reintroducing a population of students that may not otherwise attend a public school,
we have the opportunity to introduce more diversity into Southwest Early College Campus, which currently
has more than 82% black students and less than 5% white students. As a high-performing and safe school,
Hale Cook Neighborhood School will help attract students of all backgrounds and similar reinvestment
throughout the District. Essentially, the segregated city we live in is a result of multiple societal factors that
are outside the realm of the District. In Freeman v. Pitts, among other cases, the Supreme Court ruled:
“Where resegregation is not a product of state action, but of private choices, it does not have constitutional
implications. It is beyond the authority and beyond the practical ability of the federal courts to try to
counteract these kinds of continuous and massive demographic shifts. To attempt such results would require
ongoing and never-ending supervision by the courts of school districts simply because they were once de jure
segregated. Residential housing choices, and their attendant effects on the racial composition of schools,
present an ever-changing pattern, one difficult to address through judicial remedies.” (Complex Justice, pg
162)
Hale Cook Neighborhood School emerged from a conversation among community stakeholders about what
it would take to bring them back to District schools - a high-performing school in the neighborhood where
they live with guaranteed admittance. The long term vision: create a replicable model for academic success.

Opportunities
I think you and the others involved in resuscitating
Hale Cook are doing the work of the angels and I really
hope you can pull it off. It goes beyond having a near-
by school; it’s a step towards invigorating the city.
Edwin Williams, Hale Cook Alumnus, 1941-1948

37
Opportunities
It has been a two year process to understand the
potential for a new neighborhood elementary school,
its vision for success, and grassroots engagement to
build awareness and support for creating a new District
public elementary school. The following opportunities
can help transform public education in Kansas City,
Missouri for all students, not just those who attend
Hale Cook Neighborhood School.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & RESOURCES
FOR THE DISTRICT
A report from the Southwest Education Development
Laboratory finds students with involved parents, no
matter their income or background, are more likely to:
• Earn higher grades and test scores and enroll in
higher level programs;
• Be promoted, pass their classes and earn credits;
• Attend school regularly;
• Have better social skills, show improved behavior
and adapt well to school;
• Graduate and go on to post-secondary education.1
Over the past two years, Friends of Hale Cook has
worked with parents, business owners, neighbors
and other organizations to create relationships and
understand how each stakeholder may become
1 A New Wave of Evidence, Southwest Education De-
velopment Laboratory http://www.centerforpublice-
ducation.org/Main-Menu/Public-education/Parent-
Involvement/Parent-Involvement.html
involved with the District moving forward. In addition,
alumni with fond memories of their years at Hale Cook
have reached out to reengage with the school. As an
organization, we can foster stronger connections to
the broader community as well as District alumni to
create opportunity.
By building bridges and establishing networks among
Kansas Citians outside of the District, we can help
foster a stronger community for tomorrow while giving
the District the opportunity to focus on what it is
meant to do — educate our children. With the support
and partnerships leveraged by organizations such as
Friends of Hale Cook, the District can rely on programs
designed to connect families and schools with limited
resources, social services, additional academic
support.
Finally, by opening another school in the urban core,
the District can maximize the use of its resources by
seeking opportunities to share assets and talents in
the densely-populated city.
INCREASE DISTRICT ENROLLMENT
The Kauffman Foundation attributes decades of
shrinking enrollment in District schools to a result of
both declining population in the city as families move
to other parts of the metropolitan area, the reduction
in the school district boundary, and the migration of
students to charter schools. Since base funding is on
a per pupil basis, the loss of students means a loss
of funds.
School Enrollment Trends

38
Southwest Early College Campus (6512 Wornall Road)
6
153
57
0 2317
806
112
2
44
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
Asian Black Hispanic Indian White
2009
2010
2011
2012
0
186
328
1233
809
0
239
449
1491
981
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Free/Reduced Lunch (FTE)
Total Enrollment
291
170
274
359
295
359
230
320
399
312
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Total Enrollment
1
323
11 4
20
3
263
9 0
37
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Hartman Elementary School (8111 Oak Street)
Satchel Paige Elementary School (3301 E 75th Street)
Troost Elementary School (1215 E 59th Street)
0
456
3 0 111
414
2 0
19
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
405
290 278
412 399
470
372
352
446 436
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Total Enrollment
0
212
2 3 30
273
3 6 6
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
199
252
217
273
258
218
307
254
293
282
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Total Enrollment
SUBDISTRICT 2 SCHOOL POPULATIONS

39
With a capacity of 364 students, Hale Cook
Neighborhood School is located in a neighborhood that
currently has very limited enrollment in District public
schools. When successful, Hale Cook Neighborhood
School can help improve the reputation of the District
and attract new students to attend District schools.
The District has the opportunity to retain an active and
positive group of parents who are interested in seeing
Hale Cook opened.
BUILD MORE DIVERSITY DISTRICT-WIDE
The number of white students attending District
schools has also steadily declined for decades,
with record low enrollment among this population
of students. At the same time, the District has seen
escalating numbers of free and reduced lunch which
indicates a lack of socioeconomic diversity as well.
See the graphs of Subdistrict 2 school populations on
the previous page that illustrate the current lack of
diversity.
Never before has there been such a grassroots,
community-driven initiative that has sought to work
with the District to educate their children. While the
proposed neighborhood may not be very diverse, as
a feeder school to Southwest Early College Campus,
Hale Cook Neighborhood School has the potential to
introduce a population of students that has historically
been opting out of public education in our community.
FOSTER A POSITIVE REPUTATION FOR THE
DISTRICT
Negative press surrounding the District has a lasting
impression on the public and has engendered a
cynicism about our schools which has consequences
well beyond the students and graduates. Rumors and
false information make it challenging to put a positive
face on public education and drive people away from
our city as people are afraid to take a chance on public
schools when the reputation is so dismal.
Thereismuchtobecelebratedwithinourpublicschools
even with the challenges that many students, schools,
and the District face. However, when most members
of the community are not directly engaged with the
District and the only news they hear is negative, this
perception lends to even more dysfunction.
Friends of Hale Cook, on the other hand, has been a
source of relief for many — from the media, District
Administration, alumni, and the general public. As an
organization, we have sought partnership with the
District and formulated a relationship of engagement
that will continue once the school is open. By fostering
a constructive relationship of partnership and
advocacy, Friends of Hale Cook can help bring the
good stories from the District to our communities and
help shape a new future for public education in our
city.
A MODEL FOR SUCCESS
Hale Cook Neighborhood School is a blank slate
— an opportunity to not only attract new families to
the District but to start a school without the legacy
that many administrators, teachers, students,
and communities have faced with the politics of
accreditation, the challenges of test scores, etc.
Hiring a principal that can be given the autonomy
necessary to uphold the vision for Hale Cook
Neighborhood School while creating an environment
of academic success is an unique opportunity to bring
together a team of administrators and teachers that
can work together to exceed standards and flourish.
Friends of Hale Cook has done the preliminary
work to establish a vision for the school and
identifying a principal to fulfill this vision will lend to
a strong partnership with parents, teachers, and the
community.
Hale Cook Neighborhood School is an opportunity
to fully implement the highest academic standards
and best practices without the challenges of a legacy
school. Implementing the ideal academic model with
high parent and community involvement will lend to
the development of a high-performing students.
The neighborhood school model has been used
successfully for centuries, benefitting entire
communities. In developing the vision for Hale Cook
Neighborhood School, Friends of Hale Cook looked to
several case studies:
• Nettlehorst School, Chicago: Neighborhood
parents, frustrated by the lack of quality and
affordable educational options for their children,
organized their community to transform a
challenged neighborhood school into one
of Chicago’s premier public schools. The
reinvigorated school buoyed the surrounding
neighborhood: property values increased and
local businesses were more successful as a local
economy thrived around the school.
• Neighborhood School, New York: This public
school instills the values of its surrounding
community through its curriculum and prepares

40
students to be good citizens of a democratic
society. In this school, students study family,
neighborhood and their city as part of the
core curriculum. “Children’s learning is about
exploring the world and finding their place in
it. We provide the opportunities for children to
explore the social world, asking and finding their
answers to questions about how people live,
why people live together in communities, what
services neighborhoods provide, how New York
City came to be the way it is, and how they can
work with others and contribute to a better world
and community.”
• Seattle Public Schools: This public school district
encourages community engagement by providing
online resources for potential volunteers,
information on forming community partnerships
and requests for donations to be directed to
specific schools on program areas.
RECRUIT AND RETAIN EXCELLENT
TEACHERS
Hiring teachers who live and work in the area can help
establish strong support in the community for the
school and in turn foster a strong sense of trust in the
District. A future role for Friends of Hale Cook would
be to provide teacher support through fundraising for
classroom resources and experiences, cultivating a
volunteer base and partnering with local businesses
to sponsor classrooms. Friends of Hale Cook has a
successful track record of fundraising and harnessing
support from the community, and would leverage
these relationships to assist Hale Cook teachers
deliver the highest quality education to students.
HELP MEET GOALS OF ACCREDITATION
To regain accreditation, the District must increase
performance among the students with special needs
and Hale Cook Neighborhood School could provide an
environment for strong, inclusive special education,
similar to models that have been established
nationwide.
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS ACROSS THE
DISTRICT--AND THE WORLD
Friends of Hale Cook sees great potential in a sister
school program. By partnering with other Kansas City
public schools, Hale Cook students would interact with
future classmates and build new friendships. Possible
activities include a mutual project on neutral ground,
such as a community garden or art or engineering
project. The sister program would leverage limited
District resources by encouraging schools to partner:
they could host shared science fairs, talent shows
and spelling bees, as well as take field trips together.
Students from sister schools could participate in
after-school activities such as swim programs, sports
leagues, language studies and art classes, which
would extend the potential for learning and growing
beyond the school day.
An international sister school program would help
Hale Cook students develop an understanding of and
appreciation for other cultures. These relationships
would grow to later encourage student exchanges
as students enter high school through Sister
City Association of Kansas City, Missouri. These
international relationships would promote teacher
exchanges to bring in teachers from sister cities to
expose students to other cultures in the classroom.
Leveraging technology and high-speed access through
Google Fiber, Kansas City Public Schools could foster
strong collaboration among students, teachers and
classrooms to create new opportunity and programs
that connect the city. Friends of Hale Cook can help
build networks of professionals and community
stakeholders to develop innovative programming to
take full advantage of this new technology.
REACTIVATE A VACANT PROPERTY
There are costs associated with maintaining a closed
building. Hale Cook was mothballed in 2009 and each
year of deferred maintenance will cost the District
more when reactivating the building in the future. A
general financial analysis has been provided in the
Appendix D (page TK) as a reference as a sample of
how the school budget may be shaped and compares
it to the costs of maintaining the building mothballed

41
for a seven year period.
A NEW CENTER FOR COMMUNITY
The community surrounding Hale Cook could utilize
the facilities after school hours. More than 77% (385)
of survey responders agree that a public school should
also be a community center for the neighborhood.
Responders put forth several suggestions for uses for
the school:
• Adult education;
• Youth sports;
• Parent groups;
• Literacy education and tutoring;
• Book clubs; and
• A polling station.
The Year One: Potential for Enrollment section
discusses the recommendation to grow the school
by opening the lower grades first; cost of the
unused school space could be offset by sharing with
appropriate education-minded organizations. Several
such groups have approached Friends of Hale Cook
interested in using the space, including a home
school group, a church and a local literacy advocacy
organization.
CREATE CIVIC-MINDED CHILDREN
Studies show that travel time directly impacts civic
engagement — there is a direct correlation between
the time and distance traveled and the level of
involvement. If it requires too much time to join in the
activities, people are less likely to get engaged. By
creating opportunities for families to send children to
a neighborhood school, it increases the likelihood that
parents, grandparents, and neighbors will become
engaged with the school community. Likewise, over
the course of several community meetings hosted by
Friends of Hale Cook, parents expressed an interest in
cultivating a culture of civic engagement even among
the youngest elementary-aged students as a way to
foster a strong relationship to their community and
neighborhood.
Aneighborhoodschoolmodelleadstothedevelopment
of civic-minded children by building partnerships with
the community. According to the University of Dayton’s
Education Systems Change Project:
“Forty years ago, students were recognized as residents
and representatives of neighborhoods and small
towns. Schools provided a showcase for the talents
and abilities of neighborhood children. Neighborhood
business owners and organizations supported ‘their
own’ by passing tax levies, donating money and
materials for school programs, and sponsoring school
band and athletic team events.”2
Students who attend schools with high levels of
community involvement take more pride in their
communities and are more likely to serve their
communities which is good for all of Kansas City. In
addition, engaged students have enriched curricular
and extra-curricular experiences which help them
develop their skills and talents.
PROPERTY VALUES AND ECONOMIC
BENEFITS
A thriving public school would increase home values
in the surrounding area. Eight-four percent of survey
responders (416) know someone who moved out of
the area so their children could attend public schools
in another district. As the graph on page 25 indicates,
there is some correlation between number of homes
sold and the difference in the number of children aged
younger than 5 and children ages 5-9, suggesting
school choices may be a reason behind these moves.
Some individuals have stated that they would relocate
totheHaleCookNeighborhoodSchoolareaspecifically
so their children could attend school there. A survey
of the current MLS listings indicates only 1.5% of
local listings reference the listing’s corresponding
neighborhood public school; in contrast, were Hale
Cook Neighborhood School open, a successful public
school option would be an attractive selling point to
potential buyers.
2 “Parent Involvement: Strategies for Success,” Educa-
tion Systems Change Project, University of Dayton.
http://ddc.ohio.gov/pub/ESCParent.PDF

43
Conclusion
As Friends of Hale Cook, our process has been intentionally inclusive and carefully planned to bring stakeholders
to the table about the state of public education in our community and city. We have proactively engaged
thousands of people over two years to dicuss how we can transform public education in Kansas City together
and collaborated with the District to develop a sustainable model for the future. This feasibility study is the
culmination of donated time by many passionate volunteers, professionals, and community leaders who hope to
see a stronger District for Kansas City. Without successful public schools in all neighborhoods, we cannot provide
equitable opportunity for our youth to become the next generation of leaders and citizens.
While this is by no means a minor undertaking for Kansas City Public Schools or the School Board, we are asking
for your support as representatives of the community you serve by attracting a new generation of students to
our public system by opening Hale Cook Neighborhood School in Fall 2013. Now is the time to breakdown an
educational environment that divides our city between those who can afford to go elsewhere and those who
cannot. Public schools should be the first choice for all Kansas Citians and not perceived as a last resort by many.
Together we can chart a new course for public education by re-engaging a community that has fled the District. As
partners, we can change the reputation of our District and create an environment of academic success through
community and parent engagement. Hale Cook Neighborhood School can potentially benefit not just the future
of those students who attend the school but future classmates at Southwest Early College Campus and across
the District. Please consider this opportunity to partner with Friends of Hale Cook to make this school a success.
Hale Cook Neighborhood School: The Future Starts Here.

68
Figure 19. Did you attend a
KCMO public elementary school?
Figure 20. If no, where do you go
to elementary school?
Figure 21. How engaged are
you with the Kansas City Public
Schools (KCPS)?
Survey Results
The following charts outline the survey responses to the Feasibility Study.

69
Figure 22. People are less likely
to choose KCMO public schools
because...
Figure 23. Did you know that less
than 10% of school-age children
in the zip codes 64112, 64113,
and 64114 currently attend
Kansas City Public Schools?

70
Figure 24. Do you have children
that will be elementary-aged
(K-6) in the Fall 2013 or will you
have elementary aged children in
the future?
Figure 25. If Hale Cook
Elementary were to open in
2013, how likely would you be to
enroll your child?
Very likely
Somewhat likely
Not likely
Figure 26. Respondents with
elementary-aged children for Fall
2013: If Hale Cook Elementary
were to open in 2013, how likely
would you be to enroll your child?

71
Figure 27. If you are not likely to
enroll your child(ren), what would
change that decision?
Figure 28, If Hale Cook were to
open, what type of program(s)
would interest you?
Figure 29, If you do not yet have
school-age children, what schools
would you consider?

72
Figure 30. Would you consider
sending your child to a Kansas
City, MO public high school?
Figure 31. Do you know any
neighbors that have moved from
this neighborhood to attend
public schools outside of the
Kansas City, MO public school
district?
Yes
No
Figure 32. The neighborhood
elementary school model
includes geographic boundaries
for admissions, no busing,
and high level of community
support and parent engagement.
Other models include city-
wide admissions, skills-based
admissions (i.e. performing arts),
or vouchers for school choice, for
instance.
Do you support the neighborhood
elementary school model?
Yes
No
I don’t know

73
Figure 33. Do you agree that
a public school should also be
a community center for the
neighborhood?
Yes
No
I don’t know
Figure 34. What factors influence
your choice in educating your
children?
Figure 35. What school model
would you be more likely to
support?

The future starts here.
halecook.org

Friends of Hale Cook 2013 Feasibility Study

Friends of Hale Cook 2013 Feasibility Study

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