About

The KCPS International Welcome Center is a unique and innovative site that provides comprehensive support to the immigrant, migrant, refugee and non-native English speaking families in our community. Located on the 2nd floor of Woodland Early Learning Center, our goal is to provide a seamless transition to life and school in Kansas City.

Upon entering our Center, community members will be welcomed by our bilingual support assistant and parent liaisons. Parents can enroll in our space and we will help clarify the needed documents and vaccines to start school as soon as possible. We can do anything necessary to support our families in several different languages including:

• Spanish
• Arabic
• Swahili
• Kinyarwanda
• Kinyamulenge
• Somali
• Burmese
• Karen

As we progress down the hallway, we have newcomer and refugee coordinator who arranges formal orientations to schooling in Kansas City. These bi-monthly meetings, occurring the first and third Tuesdays of the month, provide parents with comprehensive information about being a parent of a student at KCPS. These orientations are available to any immigrant, migrant, or refugee who would like to participate. For more information about the orientations, please call 816-418-8916.

The KCPS International Welcome Center also accommodates initial academic and English language proficiency assessments. These assessments are crucial to ensure appropriate placements in our schools. The International Welcome Center is also the home base of our team of Resource Teachers who support all buildings in the district by providing important guidance and direction to our team of building ESL teachers and administrators. Between the enrollment, orientations, instruction and assessments, we offer comprehensive support as students begin school at KCPS.

The final piece of the KCPS International Welcome Center is our Global Academy. The half-day program for students in Kindergarten through 6th grade offers students an academic and socio-emotional soft landing when they arrive in Kansas City. Students who have arrived within the previous 6 months or who have arrived in the previous 18 months with interrupted formal education are eligible to attend. The teachers are dual-certified to teach elementary education and English to speakers of other languages.