We leave you this week with a reminder that big things are on the way. Specifically to Hangar #9 at the Downtown Airport, where Big KC will bring entrepreneurs aplenty together March 26-28. It’s the successor to Silicon Prairie News’ Big Omaha and Big Des Moines events, and will feature speakers like Dan Hesse from Sprint.
Big Kansas City – Promo Video 2013 from Silicon Prairie News on Vimeo.
Although they joke about shutting the windows and blinds in the small conference room at Académie Lafayette’s K–2 campus, the dozen administrators, board members and witnesses at the annual lottery for admission take confidentiality very seriously.
The lottery system started five years ago when Académie Lafayette began receiving more applications than they had space for students.
“It’s bittersweet- It’s unpleasant- Those would be two adjectives I would use,” said Heather Royce, Académie Lafayette’s K–2 principal.
Académie Lafayette administrators, board members and witnesses at the annual lottery prepare to draw 46 names of kindergartners out of a wooden box.
Of this year’s 136 applicants for the 2014 kindergarten class, there is space for 46. This is the space available after siblings of current students, any children of staff and “re-instated students”, or students who were picked during the previous year’s lottery, but whose parents decided to delay kindergarten for another year.
Admission at Académie Lafayette primarily happens in kindergarten because of its French-immersion curriculum.
“We’ve consistently had about 175 applications received during the open application period for the last three years,” said Katie Hendrickson, director of communications and admissions at Académie Lafayette. “This year we’ve received 30 more applications, so the interest in the school is growing and has grown steadily.”
Enrollment in charter schools in Kansas City and St. Louis has grown in the last decade according to the Missouri Department of Elementary & Secondary Education (DESE).
Missouri Public Charter School Enrollment from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Charter schools were first permitted in Kansas City and St. Louis in 1998 to give parents alternative school options because the public schools in both cities were struggling.
Académie Lafayette was founded in 1999 as the first charter school in Missouri.
In June of 2012, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon signed legislation allowing unaccredited school districts and school boards in accredited districts to apply for a charter school charter with DESE.
DESE Communications Coordinator Sarah Potter said it’s not yet clear how this legislation might impact the number of charter schools in the state.
“I’m not sure that we’re going to see more charter schools,” Potter said. “I think there is hesitancy with sponsors because there is more accountability.”
This increased accountability includes new standards for reporting academic performance and transparency of school finances to the state.
Académie Lafayette, which is sponsored by the University of Central Missouri, is looking at possible expansions.
“We are full already in this building,” Royce said. “We opened this building in August, really at capacity with six kindergartens, six first grades and six second grades.”
Letters to families letting them know whether or not they have been selected in the lottery will be mailed March 15.
“I ask families to have a plan B, but I don’t know exactly where they go [if they don’t get in],” Hendrickson said. “This is a painful and sad day, because we know that we have the chance to really accept students and help them go a certain direction with their education, and it’s really sad to see this whole other group of kids that we’ll never meet.”
The name Ken Burns has become synonymous with some of public television’s biggest blockbuster documentaries.
The Civil War. Baseball. Jazz. The National Parks. This Sunday night on KCPT and PBS stations around the country, watch Ken Burn’s latest documentary epic, The Dust Bowl, a morality tale about our relationship to the land that sustains us–a lesson we ignore at our peril.
You can watch the first installment of Ken Burns’ The Dust Bowl this Sunday night at 7 p.m. here on KCPT. One of our metro’s most knowledgeable experts on that slice of our nation’s history, Professor Jay Antle, who is executive director of the sustainability center at Johnson County Community College, sat down with Randy Mason to give a local perspective on The Dust Bowl and to talk about what it means for us today.
Black Grace, a dance troupe of Maori and Pacific Islander men, rises from a small town in New Zealand to the pinnacle of the international modern dance world.
From documentaries about the Civil Rights Movement to a Tony-awarding winning musical (Great Performances: Memphis on Broadway) to one filmmaker’s examination the month itself (More Than A Month), KCPT’s expansive Black History Month line-up includes a variety of programs profiling the rich history, culture and contributions of African Americans. Check out the complete list of films, accompanying websites and educational resources below.
Resources for Educators and Parents
Developed for educators, PBS LearningMedia is a free, online media-on-demand service featuring photos, video, audio files and more with lesson plans, background essays, and discussion questions. Included in this service are resources related to African-American history, culture and more.
For families, PBS Parents (pbsparents.org) features Embracing Black History, with suggested readings for several age levels, exploring family history, making connections with black history and teaching children about diversity. Another resource on the site, Respecting Differences, presents everyday ideas for teaching children about diversity and respect.
 |
INDEPENDENT LENS “DAISY BATES: FIRST LADY OF LITTLE ROCK” Thursday, February 2 at 10PM As a black woman who was a feminist before the term was invented, Daisy Bates refused to accept her assigned place in society. Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock tells the story of her life and public support of nine black students who registered to attend the all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, which culminated in a constitutional crisis — pitting a president against a governor and a community against itself. Learn More Educational Resources for Daisy Bates |
 |
UNDERGROUND RAILROAD: THE WILLIAM STILL STORY Monday, February 6 at 9PM William Still was one of the most important, yet largely unheralded heroes of the Underground Railroad. Hear the story of William Still and explore the major role Canada played in the complex humanitarian enterprise that helped deliver tens of thousands of men, women, and children from bondage. |
 |
American Experience: Freedom Riders Thursday, February 7 at 7PM Find inspiration in the story of a courageous band of young civil-rights activists who journeyed through the Deep South in 1961 to bring America face-to-face with the challenge of correcting civil-rights inequities that plagued the nation. Learn More Educational Resources for Freedom Riders |
 |
INDEPENDENT LENS “THE BLACK POWER MIXTAPE 1967-1975″ Thursday, February 9 at 10PM Take a cinematic and musical journey into the black communities of America, 1967-1975. Combining startlingly fresh and candid 16mm footage that had lain undiscovered in the cellar of Swedish Television for the past 30 years, with contemporary audio interviews from leading African-American artists, activists, musicians and scholars, Mixtape looks at the people, society, culture, and style that fuelled an era of convulsive change. Utilizing an innovative format that riffs on the popular 1970s mixtape format, The Black Power Mixtape is a cinematic and musical journey into the black communities of America. Learn More |
 |
Slavery By Another Name Monday, February 13 at 8PM SLAVERY BY ANOTHER NAME challenges one of America’s most cherished assumptions: the belief that slavery in this country ended with Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. Explore the little-known story of the labor practices and laws that effectively created a new form of slavery in the South that persisted into the 20th century. Slavery By Another Name is a multi-part PBS series based on the 2009 Pulitzer Prize winning book. Learn More |
 |
FRONTLINE “THE INTERRUPTERS” Follow a group of former gang leaders trying to “interrupt” shootings and protect their communities from the violence they once committed. Learn More |
 |
Independent Lens: More Than a Month Thursday, February 16 at 10PM An African-American filmmaker on a cross-country campaign to end Black History Month investigates what the treatment of history tells us about race and equality in a “post-racial” America. On Saturday, February 11 at 11am, KCPT’s Community Cinema will offer a free sneak peek of the film at Tivoli Cinemas in Westport Manor Square. Learn More Educational Resources for More Than A Month |
 |
GREAT PERFORMANCES: MEMPHIS ON BROADWAY Friday, February 24 at 9PM Turn back the dial to the 1950s in this Tony Award-winning musical about an interracial couple whose love for music, and each other, is put to the test. Learn More |
 |
AMERICAN MASTERS: Cab Calloway: Sketches Monday, February 27 at 9PM An ambassador for his race, Cab Calloway was one of the first black musicians to tour the segregationist South, as early as 1932. Enjoy this lively biography of an exceptional figure in the history of jazz. |
It’s Black History Month and local filmmaker Gary Jenkins has just released a new documentary that tells the story of Missouri slaves escaping to freedom through the Underground Railroad. Freedom Seekers premieres at the Plaza branch of the Kansas City Library on Wednesday February 15th at 6:30 p.m. followed by a panel discussion featuring local historians and Jimmy Johnson III whose great grandfather escaped a Platte County slave farm.
A series of posters that tell the story of black leaders from a local perspective are available to you for free. From Baseball legend Satchel paige and NAACP leader Roy Wilkins to jazz musicians Mary Lou Williams and Speedy Huggins.
These would be perfect for schools, community centers, or any group settings. They are free and are being made available by LINC, the Local Investment Commission who is partnering on these for black history month with the The Kansas City Public Library and The Black Archives of Mid-America, with contributions from the The Kansas City Star.
BLACK IN LATIN AMERICA, a new four-part series on the influence of African descent on Latin America, is the 11th and latest documentary film from renowned Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Professor Gates’ journey discovers, behind a shared legacy of colonialism and slavery, vivid stories and people marked by African roots. He introduces viewers to the faces and voices of the descendants of the Africans in six Latin-American countries, who created these worlds. He shows the similarities and distinctions between these cultures and how the New-World manifestations are rooted in, but distinct from, their African antecedents. A quest he began 12 years ago with WONDERS OF THE AFRICAN WORLD comes full circle in BLACK IN LATIN AMERICA, an effort to discover how Africa and Europe combined to create the vibrant cultures of Latin America, with a rich legacy of thoughtful, articulate subjects whose stories are astonishingly moving and irresistibly compelling.
Haiti & the Dominican Republic: An Island Divided
Henry Louis Gates Jr. explores Latin America’s African roots in visits to six countries, beginning with Haiti and the Dominican Republic. He explains how Haiti’s liberation from the French Empire became a double-edged sword.
This brand new, high definition program takes viewers into the heat and heart of the Blenko glassworks to see how the beautiful, all-handmade, glassware is created. Each piece is unique and so are the artisans and members of the Blenko family who continue this proud, 100 year tradition.
Dr. Mark Hyman explains what diabesity is, outlining the underlying causes that drive the problem with obesity and diabetes.
