Citizens was founded in 2013 through a concert of deep community roots and the support of a national network. Citizens has been on a seven-year journey marked with key successes.
Midtown KC families form the Midtown Community School Initiative (MCSI) & issue a national RFP soliciting partners to launch a diverse-by-design school
MSCI selects Citizens of the World Schools (CWCS) as their partner organization; together they meet with families and community to gather input
Charter application submitted to and approved by the MO Charter Public School Commission
Elementary school launches, serving 125 K-1 students and continues to grow by one grade level each subsequent school year under the leadership of Dr. Kristin Droege
Citizens of the World joins with ShowMeKCSchools in the launch of SchoolAppKC
Mr. Jon Hile begins serving as CWC’s Executive Director, bringing years of experience as a non-profit and education leader
Middle school launches through a co-location agreement with Académie Lafayette serving 46 sixth graders
CWC joins the PreK Cooperative, collaborating with UICS (now EarlystART) to open a PreK classroom
The Missouri Charter Public School Commission renews CWCKC’s charter for another 5 years
Dr. Danielle Miles begins serving as CWC’s Director of School Leadership, bringing years of educational leadership experience at area district schools with her
Learning best occurs when students construct their own
understandings, under the guidance of a teacher who offers
varying levels of support, which are reflective of students’
current abilities and needs. Our theory of learning is comprised
of three building blocks: constructivism, gradual release of
responsibility, and data-driven instruction.
CWC’s academic model supports and depends upon
connections with self, one’s community, and the world. Our
model supports this development through social emotional
learning (SEL), which we believe to be as integral to an
excellent education as traditional academic subjects and,
moreover, is necessary for the world that we live in.
We believe that the diversity of our communities, and of the
world at large, is a great strength. Through targeted outreach
and recruitment, our schools are intentionally designed to
reflect their surrounding communities and the larger society in
terms of race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status. By learning,
interacting, and growing in a diverse setting, our students are
preparing to thrive in the pluralistic society they will soon join.
As a school community, we are guided by our core values of Excellence, Diversity, Authenticity, Community and Change, and our operating norms that reflect a commitment to personal and professional growth, including operating as learners, with curiosity, integrity and humility.
We strive to do our best.
We respect our differences.
We dare to be ourselves.
We engage in our community.
We roll with change.
The core values are celebrated among our community throughout the school day. Students give shout outs to one another in their classroom community circles, and teachers celebrate successes of all kinds by recognizing students through shout outs during announcements every Friday morning and at our monthly Friday Morning Sing community assembly.
