Operation Toys for Tots: LINC, U.S. Marine Corps spread holiday cheer

It’s not a simple operation, bagging up 200 toys for every LINC Caring Communities site. But the U.S. Marine Corps and LINC managed it again, packing the big red sacks of toys into an assortment of LINC staff’s pickups, vans, SUVs and one fully loaded U-Haul to cap off another Toys for Tots mission.

LINC, First book team up to send children home with three thousand new books

Three thousand and four, to be exact. LINC made sure children and their Caring Communities families had new books to take home for the holidays, continuing a collaboration with the non-profit First Book to help inspire a lifetime of reading.

Watch: A shining Girls on the Run 5k day

The morning’s cold rain turned into a sprinkle and vanished altogether as crisp sunlight broke out over the 2022 Fall Girls on the Run 5K just as hundreds of girls, parents, siblings and coaches crowded to the starting line Saturday. Check out our video and photo gallery.

Boom! LINC's Lights On Afterschool 2022 events are rocketing, now with video

Our annual Lights On Afterschool celebrations got off to a world-traveling start at Lee A. Tolbert Community Academy, painting and chili-eating at J.A. Rogers Elementary, rocket-fuel explosions at Warford, a fashion show at Faxon . . . and there is so much more throughout LINC’s Caring Communities. Check out our video and photo gallery.

Welcome back! This is what Caring Communities look like

Yes, there will be plenty of all the creative fun that kids enjoy in LINC’s before- and after-school programs, but just as reliable are the broader supports LINC’s Caring Communities bring to the children, families and neighborhoods.

Simon says: Start your pre-enollment for LINC now!

We’re getting ready for you. LINC’s free before- and after-school programs are now starting the pre-enrollment process for the coming school year. Find out what you need to know about our Caring Communities programs and start your pre-enrollment today.

Sign up for Summer! Pre-enrollment open for LINC's before- and after-school programs

Here comes summer. It’s time for families that are planning to have children in summer school to pre-enroll for LINC’s before- and after-school programs. We’ll be ready with games, activities and fun learning opportunities at 15 school sites in our partner districts.

NKC Schools' bond/levy issues highlight April 5 election with area school board races

For the second time in two years, the growing North Kansas City School District is asking voters to approve no-tax-increase ballot measures. NKC’s bond issue and levy transfer highlight election day April 5 along with a host of important school board races across most of LINC’s partner districts.

LINC's Girls on the Run, Let Me Run boys and their fans celebrate 5K triumphs

Talk about your perfect days. Girls on the Run and the Let Me Run boys program set out in gorgeous fall weather for their big 5K runs Saturday, and we’ve got photos.

'New moments. New memories.' Lights On Afterschool helps turn the page

With grace and hard-won joy, the annual Lights On Afterschool events returned with their resilient communities in celebration of the power of community schools .

Watch us dance! Lights On Afterschool hits the big time

If our Lights On Afterschool festivities were Times Square on New Year’s Eve, the ball has dropped. The cats are out of the bag. The book tour has finished to rave reviews. It’s been quite a show.

School lunchrooms' grim tale: This is the crisis that Covid built

A food service crisis up and down the supply chain has districts scrambling after new resources and paring down menu options to meet the critical task of feeding students. “School is the only place where some of our kids get a hot meal.”

On your marks! LINC's summer session takes off

There’s a serious side to summer after-school programs now. There’s increased attention to academic skills coming out of the pandemic. And an awareness of children’s social and emotional well-being after so much separation and so many families still hurting. But this is still summer. And LINC’s not going to let kids down now.

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.

North Kansas City Schools goes big on early childhood education

It’s a small crew, embarked on this first voyage across the wide open sea of North Kansas City Schools’ new Early Education Center. But the thrill of first adventures fills these warm learning spaces, with the promise of so many more to come in the hundreds of children who will follow them here in the years to come.

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.

Lights On Afterschool events celebrate Caring Communities' strength

All across LINC’s sites in six different school districts, Lights On Afterschool celebrations will be marking the shared experiences of communities that have been through so much, bringing “joy and hope to everyone.”

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 . . .

Strange new year: This is what it takes to get all families learning, thriving

With Labor Day behind them, the rest of the area’s school districts leapt into a most daunting school year this week. LINC was there to help as parents, teachers and their collective school community navigated the anxious first steps of remote learning.

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.