KPIRC

About Us

In October, 2006, Kansas Families and Schools Together, Inc., KFAST, a non-profit agency was successful in winning a second round of funding to continue the Kansas Parent Information Resource Center (KPIRC). The funding in this cycle is for five years. The KPIRC is a partnership between KFAST and 13 statewide educational and parent advocacy organizations.

Title V of the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, No Child Left Behind, authorizes establishing federally funded parental information and resource centers that provide training, information and support to parents. The Centers also provide support to SEAs (state education agencies & departments of education), LEAs (local education agencies & school districts), and other organizations that carry out parent education and family involvement programs. A major goal of the KPIRC is to support parents in helping their children meet the Kansas QPA (Quality Performance and Accreditation) standards.

Goals

To provide a seamless system of support, resources, and training to families with children from birth through high school.
To build capacity of parents, particularly those who are educationally and/or economically disadvantaged, to become an integral part of their children's educational success.
To develop parent advocacy and leadership skills.

Objectives

Establishing a statewide network of parents, pre K-16 educators, business and community leaders, and faith- and community-based organizations to work with, and support families and their children.
Providing families with NCLB information and understanding about state/local report cards, public school choice, SES, and parents' rights.
Working with KS SEA to provide technical assistance to LEAs/schools to implement parental involvement policies and Title I, Section 1118.
Promoting and supporting quality PAT and Head Start early childhood programs to promote school readiness.
Working with pre K-16 school-based/school-linked programs to increase educators' understanding of working with diverse families, how to enable more effective communication between parents and professionals and how to increase parent involvement in children's learning.
Ensuring that parents have access to literacy training/resources to more effectively enable their children's academic growth and achievement.

Staff

Name	Title	Email
Jane Groff	Director	jgroff@kpirc.org
Tammie Benham	Assistant Director	tbenham@kpirc.org
Suzanne Knorr, Ph.D.	KPIRC Project Evaluator	sknorr@kpirc.org
Natalie Schweda	Office Manager	nschweda@kpirc.org
Barbara Shinn	Program Consultant	bshinn@kpirc.org

Statewide Advisory Board

Name	Title
Leticia Susastegui*	Migrant Parent Advisory Council
Debbie Lawson*	Kansas Parent Teachers Association (KS PTA)
Lesli Girard*	Families Together, Inc.
Roy Bird	State Library of Kansas/Kansas Center for the Book
Mary Baskett	Executive Director of the KS Head Start Association
Sandee Crowther	Kansas Learning First Alliance
Chris Bradley/Melanie Manares	Consultant, State and Federal Programs, KS State Dept of Education
Malissa Martin-Wilke	Communities in Schools of Kansas
Nancy Keel	Kansas Parents as Teachers Association
Teresa Stous*	Parent Representative
Jean Morgan	SRS/Head Start-State Collaboration Office
Brenda Brown*	Parent Representative
Peg Dunlap	Kansas National Education Association
Sue Givens	Kansas Learning First Alliance Chairperson
Michelle Arnett*	Parent Representative
Barbara Shinn*	Coordinator, Kansas Families and Schools Together, Inc
Natalie Shinn	Student Representative
Peg McCarthy*	Title I and Topeka School Board Member
Leadell Ediger	Child Care Aware of Kansas
Marcia Dvorak	Kansas Enrichment Network
Laura Arreola*	Parent Representative
Malee Retana*	Parent Representative
Jennifer Whitcomb*	Parent Representative
Sharon Dabzadeh - Grandparent*	Parent Representative
Maria Martinez*	Parent Representative

* Parent