Crossroads Academy honors Downtown Council, CID - Downtown Council of Kansas City

Downtown’s newest icon dreamed BIG on Thursday evening before a sold-out audience of supporters at its annual dinner celebration.

The Crossroads Academy, Downtown’s charter elementary school, held its Dreaming BIG in Downtown Kansas City event on Thursday evening to celebrate the school’s successful first full year of operations.

“We continue the big dream of educational excellence in the vibrant heart of Downtown Kansas City,” said Executive Director Dean Johnson. “Your support helps bring our students’ big dreams to life as they receive a high quality urban education among the city’s skyscrapers.”

Johnson presided over a brief program and presented the Downtown Council and the Community Improvement District with special honors for their contributions to the school’s success. Bill Dietrich, president and CEO; Sean O’Byrne, vice president for business development; Mark Rowlands, director of the CID; and 15 members of the DTC and CID staffs were on hand to accept the recognition and received two paintings by Crossroads Academy sixth graders.

Johnson credited the Downtown Council and the CID Ambassadors as being essential partners in achieving the school’s vision: “To be the premier urban school serving Kansas City’s youth and a destination for other educators seeking inspiration and best practices. Graduates of Crossroads Academy will be scholarly, culturally literate and service oriented individuals who will pursue their dreams relentlessly and have a positive impact on their family, their community and the world.”

The Crossroads Academy began serving students on Sept. 4, 2012, with 190 students in grades kindergarten through fifth. Students originating from 25 different schools enrolled for the inaugural year, forming a diverse student body in terms of socioeconomic, race/ethnicity and levels of preparation indicators. For the current 2013 – 2014 year, the school has an expanded student body with 230 students in kindergarten through 6^th and began the year with more than 60 on the wait list.

For more information on the Crossroads Academy and to find ways you can help the school achieve new heights, visit the Crossroads Academy.