Learn How to Walk to School, at the Central Library, Wed. 6:30pm

To open the latest season of the What Works in Urban Education series, Tom Bloch and the University Academy present Jacqueline Edelberg and her book, How to Walk to School: Blueprint for a Neighborhood School Renaissance on Wednesday, January 13, at 6:30 p.m. at the Kansas City Central Library, 14 W. 10th St.

The book chronicles the transformation of Chicago's Louis Nettelhorst Elementary School from an underutilized and struggling neighborhood institution into a successful, vibrant pillar of the community on the strength of motivated parents (including Edelberg) and an entrepreneurial principal (co-author Susan Kurland).

Based on her experiences, Edelberg presents a model for reviving the neighborhood school...from the struggles, tensions with some teachers, to a lack of cooperation with school bureaucracy, to charges by some parents that the school was being gentrified. The reformers knew they had to focus on the essentials: develop partnerships with local businesses and non-profit organizations, improve academic performance, and improve the school's image to attract more middle-class families. After all the joy and struggle, the group transformed the school into a high performer that has been acclaimed nationally for its achievement.

RSVP online here…walk if you’re close enough or park for free at the Library’s covered garage.