'Justice in the Schools' legal help for families expanding to Center School District

Legal assistance for housing problems, eviction threats, foreclosure, consumer complaints and other matters is coming to the aid of Center School District families as LINC expands its support of the Justice in the Schools program.

'Absolutely Awesome!' Center opens new Indian Creek Elementary to rave reviews

Once the red ribbon was cut and the first tours were under way, students Jaiden and Janae Taylor joined the wide-eyed procession inside Center School District’s new Indian Creek Elementary School Thursday as some of the most precious guests. See what they like the most.

School bonds, levies win big; KC earnings tax triumphs; school board races tight

Bond issues, levies and the earnings tax won big, but many school board races ran tight. See how the final, unofficial totals came out in the April 6 election for our partner school districts.

Kansas City education leaders urge COVID vaccinations

Their districts’ neighborhoods are hard-hit by Covid, but “here we have an opportunity to do something about it,” said KCPS Superintendent Mark Bedell as he was vaccinated. “I’m doing my part to keep everyone safe,” said Center Superintendent Yolanda Cargile.

When ‘home’ is a roadside hotel, Impact Center Schools opens a way out

Just drive. Keep picking up taxi fares. Drive sick. Drive while tortured by an infected tooth. Drive exhausted. Otherwise, Center School District parent Josh McConnaughey feared, he’d lose the last grip he had on a “home” for his three teenaged sons — the weekly-rate hotel room looking out on wheel-roaring Interstate 435.

'Here to do our job'; LINC re-opening more sites, Covid-safe

Covid-19 cases are in rapid decline. Vaccines are coming. Reports from the CDC of low transmission in safe schools are encouraging . . . More children are coming back into school buildings, and LINC is ready.

Updates: Students returning to classrooms as Covid cases fall, with new CDC guidance

t’s been a long road. That’s for sure. But continued declines in Covid-19 cases plus more aggressive advice from the Centers for Disease Control are opening the doors for Kansas City Public Schools, Hickman Mills and Center to bring students back into in-person classrooms in the weeks ahead. And other districts hope to bring more students into already-open buildings.

Watch: Free legal aid available for many Center, Marlborough families and others

Free legal services can help many families with eviction defense, consumer protection, small business needs and more. LINC hosted a virtual seminar introducing Legal Aid’s Adopt-a-Neighborhood Program to families in the Center Elementary and Marlborough neighborhoods.

LINC expands community efforts to bust pandemic's barriers for children and families

The mother’s needs came tumbling out like the insides of a dumped suitcase. This was going to take some doing — finding temporary storage, relief from utility bill debt in the thousands of dollars, and fulfilling her child’s prayer that her family would get a new home by her birthday.

Shake it up! Lights On Afterschool finds a new groove

No more was the pandemic going to hold back what LINC and its communities yearned to give and share. The fall weather came cool and clear, and LINC’s annual Lights On Afterschool events went outside to find a rush of parents, teachers and children ready to join the fun.

Neighborhood schooling: LINC carries aid to families during pandemic

The path to this moment — when tears slipped from a grandmother’s eyes — had wound its way door by door through neighborhoods that are hurting. Like many of LINC’s Caring Communities site coordinators, Danisha Clarkson was out in the field helping her partner school reach families of children who were unaccounted for or needed help in the new school year . . .

Destination unknown: Schools go boldly (with mixed plans) into new year with Covid

Here’s hoping that every school district will be able to say in the end that they planned right for Covid. Because, with no clear path through the pandemic, schools open the year vulnerable to second-guessing, whether all online or inside buildings with their teachers.

Covid overwhelming schools' plans for indoor fall openings

Our reckless summer with Covid-19 is proving all the warnings true. And now schools and their essential social infrastructure are toppling again under the weight of hundreds of new coronavirus cases every day just as districts were daring to launch meticulous, precarious reopening plans.

'Acting together to save lives': Schools close, focus on aid to families

LINC and area school districts now focus on how to help families get vital services of food, child care and internet connectivity as the coronavirus turns lives inside-out.

Center names Cargile as next superintendent; Hickman Mills seeks new leader

Hickman Mills Superintendent Yolanda Cargile isn’t going far at all to take on her next superintendent challenge. Five days after she told her Hickman Mills families that she was leaving the southeast Kansas City district, neighboring Center School District announced it had found its next leader: Dr. Cargile.

LINC In Photos 2019

We are happy to share LINC in Photos 2019 – a visual representation of LINC's impact and presence in the community.

'Lights On Afterschool' celebrates LINC's daily mission: Empowering children, families, communities

LINC’s annual “Lights On Afterschool” festivals are actually celebrations of LINC’s daily work with its partnering schools of strengthening the lives of children and empowering their families and neighborhoods.

Call for help: Ending student homelessness in Center School District

The mission of the Impact Center program is to end student homelessness in the Center School District within four years. Impact Center’s most pressing need is to raise funds to hire a full-time case manager to work directly and intensively with families to help them overcome their individual barriers to housing success.

Lawyers in your corner: Stressed KC communities fight back with 'Adopt-A-Neighborhood' legal teams

The Adopt-A-Neighborhood Project in Kansas City is helping communities turn around vacant properties with the help of volunteer law firms that join with Legal Aid of Western Missouri to help neighborhoods navigate a knotted legal system. LINC is looking to connect its Caring Communities sites with the project.

'An exceptional young man' lost to gun violence in Center, LINC community

Brian Bartlett was eight years old, just days away from starting the fourth grade at Center Elementary School and LINC’s Caring Communities after-school program.

The child was killed as he slept Saturday night, Aug. 10, when a barrage of gunfire ripped through his family’s house in the 8300 block of Tracy Avenue. His mother was wounded. Investigators still have no suspect information or know of any motive for the shooting, police said.