For someone who absolutely did not want to go into education, Kansas City Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Collier is way off track.
“I always knew I wanted to do something of consequence to make a difference, even as a child,” said Dr. Collier. “I am from a family of educators; my mom was a teacher and taught me first and second grade. Through sixth grade, once school was out, I spent many afternoons in her classroom down the hall. It was so much time in school; I ran from education for that reason.”
She didn’t get far. Passionate for the arts, and music in particular, she and her twin sister auditioned for and received music scholarships to KU. A classically trained singer, Dr. Collier’s plan was to go to New York and perform on Broadway or at the Metropolitan Opera. Her parents laid down some wisdom on that.
“They reminded me that it is costly to live in New York City, that I didn’t have savings or a guaranteed job so I might first work here, keep studying, save money and then move when I am more ready,” she said. “That sounded like a good plan.”
Dr. Collier’s mother, then a school principal in Kansas City Public Schools, told her there was a shortage of music teachers and she might apply. Armed with enough music courses to teach, Dr. Collier started what she thought was a temporary job.
“As soon as I started teaching, I knew this is what I am supposed to do,” she said. “My passion for music led me to my purpose – to do important work for the school district.”
The recent landslide passage of the $474 million bond measure is a big part of that important work. The funds will go to address long deferred maintenance and repairs and is a stunning success story, a testimony to the years-in-the-making re-engagement by the community and its trust in the district.
Dr. Collier said the turnaround is rooted in the beginnings of stability in district leadership. Dr. R. Stephen Green, who served four years, was the first to provide consistency and continuity at the superintendent level, she said. “Then Dr. Mark T. Bedell, for the next six years, brought his focus on the educational product and regaining accreditation. He did a lot to open the district up to reconnect with our community, bringing them into this good work, and to develop partnerships.”
Dr. Collier was part of Dr. Bedell’s team for the full six years and had a front row view of where KCPS was as a district. Upon his departure, she was named interim superintendent in August 2022 and named superintendent by a unanimous vote of the KCPS school board in February 2023. “I want to honor where we have come from as a district and work to continue our evolution to educational excellence,” she said.
In her interim year, enrollment increased for the first time in years and has continued to do so since. Last year for the first time, the district saw growth in reading MAP scores. “The scores are still not great, but we are working to have incremental growth every year until we get to where we need to be,” she said.
Dr. Collier is leading a laser focus on several areas, including literacy and the arts. KCPS now requires all Kindergarten through second grade teachers to go through LETRS® (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading Spelling) offered through the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, to better equip them to help struggling readers.
The district also provides in all its schools reading interventionists who design tailored lesson plans and work directly with students in need. For those really falling behind, the district provides tutors who work with students one-on-one, three days a week for a half hour each time.
“Our literacy investment is a big part of our instructional budget, but reading is so foundational to all other learning,” said Dr. Collier. “Students build their future success on literacy.”
Another key initiative is reintroducing the arts into the district’s elementary schools.
“Children need access to the arts regardless of their socioeconomic status,” she added. “We have band and orchestra in every elementary school across the district, as well as dance, theater and the visual arts. The arts give our students another pathway where they can thrive.”
Transformational change starts with a vision and the undeterred belief it will come to be, Dr. Collier said. “The children in our community are amazing, brilliant. All they need is opportunity and people who believe and invest in them, calling out their greatness. Our students are showing us that KCPS will be a destination school district with families clamoring to get in.”
We believe it.