Welcome, Kris Collins!

As we've welcomed new partners, the Cooperative has grown our staffing capacity to facilitate our partnerships as well. We're thrilled that Kris Collins has stepped into a newly created Director of Pre-K and Early Childhood postion at SchoolSmartKC this Fall.  Kris was a founding Cooperative Partner as the Director of Education Programs at Upper Room KC. She brings that experience to her current work cultivating strong relationships among partners, onboarding new partners, providing coaching and technical assistance, driving Kindergarten readiness assessment, and managing work with other organizations that support the Cooperative's core operations.

Kris' mix of experience in the nonprofit sector and public schools across the pre-K to 12 continuum uniquely positions her to support the Cooperative as we work to meet the breadth of need for high-quality pre-K in KCMO.

Kristina (Kris) Collins

Kristina Collins is the Director of Pre-K and Early Childhood at SchoolSmartKC, working to facilitate collaboration between K-12 schools and early childhood providers.

Kris most recently worked at the Upper Room where she managed and provided oversight for their Early Learning Center, After-school, and Summer Academic Programs, while also raising over $2 million for facilities renovations and improvement, and programmatic support. 

Kris has a long career in public education, working with both charter schools and Kansas City Public Schools.  She has led efforts in both the K-12 and early childhood sectors, including involvement with curriculum and assessment redesign, culminating in Missouri Accreditation. Kris has worked in the Kansas City community for over 30 years, cultivating partnerships and collaborative opportunities to ensure systemic change.  

Kris has her B.S. in Business Administration/Marketing and a M.S. in Organizational Development – both from Avila University.