As small as it is geographically, Wyandotte County still has many ways to educate its youth, including four public school districts, numerous parochial and private schools and two first-rate community colleges.

The largest of the four public school districts, the Kansas City, Kan., School District USD 500, enrolls about 21,000 students annually and employs about 1,700 teachers. Within the district are 31 elementary schools, eight middle schools, four senior high schools, Sumner Academy of Arts and Science, two alternative secondary schools and an area vocational technical school.

Maintaining such a large number of buildings isn’t easy, but KCK knows the importance of providing a sound learning environment. The district passed a $120 million bond issue in 2001 to retrofit all the schools with air conditioning and updated wiring to meet changing technology needs.

In northwest Wyandotte County is the Piper School District USD 203. Despite all the development activity associated with the Kansas Speedway, Piper for now remains the smallest school district in the county, with approximately 1,300 students. Schools include two elementary, one middle and one high school.

The Turner School District USD 202 in the southwest part of KCK is a fixture to the families who have lived in the district for decades and attended Turner schools for three or four generations. The district enrolls about 3,000 students a year and includes six elementary schools, a middle school and a high school. Residents point with special pride to Turner High, a beautiful new $28 million dollar building situated among the woods.

Further west is the Bonner Springs/Edwardsville School District USD 204 with two elementary schools, a middle school and high school. This district attracts about 2,100 students a year.

Higher education includes the Kansas City Kansas Community College, a public facility founded in 1923 that offers associate degrees in such fields as health care, business, the humanities, the social sciences, math, science and technology.

The college is recognized also for its Workforce Development Department, which over the past year has provided training and services to more than 20 companies in Leavenworth and Wyandotte counties. The training can be anything from GED preparation to financial planning. In particular, KCKCC has formed a strong partnership with General Motors’ Fairfax plant.

More than 5,600 students are enrolled at KCKCC in any given semester, with at least 50 percent come from Wyandotte County. The demand for the school’s services is so great, in fact, it has established a satellite campus in Leavenworth County.

The other institution of higher learning in town—in the heart of town—is Donnelly College. Founded in 1949 in affiliation with the Catholic Church, Donnelly describes itself now as "a two-year independent, co-educational community college." In particular, the mission of Donnelly encompasses providing education to those who might not otherwise be able to afford it.

The Kansas City, Kan., Area Technical School (ATS) provides post-secondary education, too. Along with TechSkills, also in KCK, the ATS is known for its computer training courses. On Ingram’s list of Top Kansas City Area Computer Training Centers, TechSkills ranked sixth and the ATS eighth in the number of student days they offer. Class dismissed.t.