Twelve schools are joining the Kansans Can School Redesign Project as the Apollo III cohort, the sixth and final phase of the project.

The names of the schools and districts were announced during the Kansas State Board of Education meeting Tuesday, July 13. The announcement brings the total number of schools taking part in the Kansans Can School Redesign Project to 194, representing 71 districts.

All five of the districts selected to take part in the Apollo III phase already have other schools participating in earlier phases and are now adding new schools.

The schools, along with their districts, taking part in Apollo III are:

Andover Unified School District 385

·       Sunflower Elementary School

·       Wheatland Elementary School

Columbus USD 493

·       Park Elementary School

Emporia USD 253

       ·          Riverside Elementary School

       ·          Timmerman Elementary School

Hutchinson USD 308

       ·          Graber Elementary School

       ·          Morgan Elementary School

       ·          Hutchinson Middle School 7

       ·          Hutchinson Middle School 8

Winfield USD 465

       ·          Lowell Elementary School

       ·          Whittier Elementary School

       ·          Winfield Early Learning Center

The Kansans Can School Redesign Project was announced in 2017 in support of Kansas’ vision for education in Kansas – Kansas leads the world in the success of each student.

The first seven school districts to take part in the first phase of the project, Mercury 7, were announced in August 2017. The other cohorts are Gemini I, Gemini II, Apollo and Apollo II.

For more information on the Kansans Can Redesign Project, visit https://www.ksde.org/Agency/Fiscal-and-Administrative-Services/Communications-and-Recognition-Programs/Vision-Kansans-Can/Kansans-Can-School-Redesign-Project.

Background: The State Board of Education in October 2015 announced a new vision for education in Kansas: Kansas leads the world in the success of each student. To help measure the success of the new vision, the board established outcomes — social-emotional growth; kindergarten readiness; Individual Plan of Study (IPS); high school graduation rates; postsecondary completion/attendance; and civic engagement.

The board also defined a successful high school graduate as someone who has the academic preparation, cognitive preparation, technical skills, employability skills and civic engagement to be successful in postsecondary education, in the attainment of an industry recognized certification or in the workforce, without the need for remediation.