Douglass Sumner DASH Project

In the Neighborhood
The Past Holds Promise for the Future

In the northeast community of Kansas City, Kan., where poverty, blight and crime dominate the landscape, Sumner Academy of Arts and Science stands in the middle as an oasis of achievement and success.

The college preparatory magnet school – considered one of the best in the nation – is symbolic of where the neighborhood has been and represents where it wants to be in the future. What’s more, area residents are depending on the students’ youthful enthusiasm and the school’s commitment to the neighborhood to help them get there.

“Douglass Sumner used to be a community of houses, gardens, children and neighbors sitting on front porches or sharing recipes,” said Beatrice Lee, president of the Douglass-Sumner Neighborhood Association.

Today, the area is known for its high crime, vacant lots littered with trash and an aging low-income population. Yet, there is a spark of excitement at neighborhood meetings and talk among the residents that change is on the way.

Douglass-Sumner is one of the first groups to complete Quality of Life Planning through NeighborhoodsNOW. The outcome is a comprehensive neighborhood plan that has identified four major initiatives:

Organizational Development
Community Infrastructure
Jersey Creek Redevelopment District
Housing

Within the four initiatives are projects designed to create much-needed infill housing for seniors, repair crumbling streets and sidewalks, and celebrate the neighborhood’s rich heritage.

“I’ve been waiting for this to happen,” said Lee (pictured at right), who was born and raised in Douglass-Sumner.

She vividly remembers when Douglass-Sumner was a proud, thriving community connected to downtown by family businesses, such as Jayhawk Cleaners. Several prominent African Americans were born here including jazz legend Charlie Parker; physician A. Porter Davis; and Wyandotte District Court Judge Cordell Meeks Jr.

A Colorful Past

Sumner Academy’s past is an intricate part of the neighborhood’s history. Sumner High School opened in 1905 as a school solely for local students of color. Known as the black-and-orange Spartans, it attracted many high-quality black educators and produced high-achieving students, many of whom went on to successful careers. The school moved to its current location in 1939 and was known as a “neighborhood school."

That all changed in the 1970s with desegregation and busing. According to Sumner Academy Principal Mary Viveros Ph.D., neighborhood children were bused out of the area while white students were bused in, benefiting from Sumner’s quality education programs. At the same time, the neighborhood began to deteriorate. As a generation of residents passed away and children grew up and left, the area succumbed to blight, crime and poverty.

1978 was a turning point when the high school was reorganized into a college preparatory magnet school in the Kansas City, Kansas school district. The school was given a new mascot -- the blue-and-silver Sabres – eliminating ties to its African-American history, the Spartan tradition and a proud alumni base. For close to 50 years, the Sabres created their own history of excellence. Today, more than 90 percent of Sumner Academy students attend college and Newsweek magazine named it “One of the Top 100 High Schools” in the country in 2003, 2005 and 2006.

In 2003, a door to the past opened. The Spartan Class of 1953 contacted Viveros about their 50th year reunion. She invited them to share their memories with the 1,000-member student body. That presentation generated “a real sense of exhilaration” among students, said Viveros, who has been the school’s principal for six years. It galvanized them to embrace the Spartan tradition and incorporate it into the school’s culture. Now, senior class gifts to the school often celebrate both the Spartan and Sabre tradition, and a display case in the school lobby showcases the Douglass-Sumner history.

The Time is Right

Even before Quality of Life Planning occurred, Sumner Academy was recognized as a good neighbor. It regularly hosted neighborhood meetings and annually coordinated a neighborhood clean-up day. When the planning process began, Viveros knew the school would participate, and she recognized that residents were ready as well.

“I see it as the time is right for change,” she said. “It’s exciting and I have no reason to believe that our plan won’t be accomplished.”

As soon as residents learned they were selected for the NeighborhoodsNOW program, Lee said the group started a visioning process that laid the foundation for the future. The Quality of Life Planning, led by a group of urban development consultants, helped residents -- many of them over age 65 – transform their ideas and vision into substantive projects.

Douglass-Sumner’s colorful history may eventually become one of its special attractions. It has led to a unique research project called DASH (Douglass And Sumner Heritage) that will be conducted by Sumner Academy students and supported by school administrators. The neighborhood hopes to preserve its heritage through designated landmarks along a pedestrian walkway that wraps around the school and possibly connects to Douglass Elementary School nearby. It may also include documented oral histories, and community presentations and exhibits.

“I saw this as an opportunity for our students to do something authentic and genuine,” said Viveros.

The Quality of Life Plan also calls for much-needed housing, including infill to create neighborhood stability and senior housing to integrate this growing population in the neighborhood fabric. The Jersey Creek Redevelopment District would utilize a mixed-use model to attract business and improve the landscape around this area.

To download the Douglass-Sumner neighborhood Quality of Life plan click here.