Student Services and Family Support

In the Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools, we believe that a parent is the student's first teacher, and that positive relationships between families, teachers and students will help students to be successful. Family Advocacy is the vehicle that the district uses to strengthen relationships with parents. The district recognizes that students need support at home to be successful in school. So, KCKPS has created the Family Advocate System to create a home-school connection. Each professional and support staff person is assigned to approximately 12 to 17 students and their families. The staff/family relationship last the entire time the students attend the school. This means that the key adults in each student's life have ongoing contact with one another, communicating about the student's academic and personal needs. The district has implemented the Family Advocate System in all of its schools.

Family Advocates:

• Meet at least 30 minutes each week designated for Family Advocacy time.
• Family Advocates facilitate prosocial skills during that time using Second Step, Pre-K through 8th grade and School Connect at the High Schools.
• Meet and orient new students to the small learning communities.
• Work with students and families to identify interests, build strengths and head off problems.
• Support students' academic and behavior progress using a continuous stream of information from other teachers, the school and the district.
• Plan and lead at least two meetings each year with each student and parents or guardians.
• Get in touch with each family at least once a month.
• Help other faculty and staff work effectively with the student.

Kansas City Kansas Public Schools is committed to the mental health and wellness of its students, their families, and the Kansas City Kansas community. In addition to Counselors, Behavioral Health Social Workers are available in each school to provide support to students who may experience behaviors or symptoms that impact their emotional health. These social workers serve as the liaison between the home, school and outside community resources. KCKPS is dedicated to building partnerships with a variety of agencies in the community who can support the needs of our students and families.?? The district has added Behavioral Health Social Workers to each school as another layer of intervention to improve the overall wellness of its student population.

Behavioral Health Social Workers:

• Meet with students who are feeling intense emotions to help them find tools to cope
• Provide staff with information on behavioral health signs and symptoms
• Meet with staff to problem solve behavioral challenges and offer intervention techniques to teachers
• Complete brief assessments to determine best treatment options for students experiencing behaviors or symptoms impacting a student???s learning
• Meet with families to provide support and resources to meet their behavioral health needs
• Connect students and families to helpful resources in the community

Section 504 is federal civil rights law under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. It provides protection against discrimination for individuals with disabilities. Students in school settings fall under the civil rights protection of Section 504. The law and regulations prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability from all school programs and activities in both public and private schools receiving direct or indirect federal funding. Section 504 accommodations could be available to identified students with disabilities, who have been evaluated.

Section 504 is designed to provide equal access in general education to students with disabilities, thereby leveling the playing field for them through what is known as a Section 504 Accommodation Plan. It is not a plan designed to enhance a student’s performance. It is a plan to provide accommodations and equal access to education. The student must be evaluated and meet the Section 504 identification criteria.

A student is entitled to a Section 504 Accommodation Plan if they have been identified and the evaluation shows that the individual has a mental or physical impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. This determination is made by a team of knowledgeable individuals, including the parents, who are familiar of the student and his/her disability.

Please read our parent guide and talk with the school counselor if you have questions.

• Students are not eligible for the program if they have been referred in the past 3 years.
• A long-term suspension must be implemented.
• Review the contract and program expectations (within contract) with the parent and student. Secure all the appropriate signatures.
• Sessions are conducted in Spanish and English.

Program Details:

Sessions held at: Coronado Middle School, 1735 N 64th Terr, 66102

Security Check-In: Parents and students will check-in with security and room assignments will be made.

Time: Monday evenings from 6:00 - 8:30 PM for four consecutive weeks Participants reporting after 6:00 p.m. will not be allowed into the session and will need to reschedule. The parent/guardian must attend all sessions with the student.

Completion: Parent and student will receive proof of completion. Program will let school staff know of completion.