The Kansas City Star -

When the Children’s Campus of Kansas City formally opens Tuesday, early childhood experts from across the world will be watching.

Inside the three-story, $15.5 million building in downtown Kansas City, Kan., several social service groups will focus on at-risk children and their families. And while the nonprofit agencies will have different offices, they will hardly work in isolation.

The campus will have space for an intensive Early Head Start program, family support agencies, research centers and more. The ultimate goal is to close the gap between what research proves and how quickly it is applied.

The agencies will serve economically disadvantaged families, but research compiled at the campus is expected to lead to curriculum adjustments and other changes at early-childhood centers across the country.

Campus tenants plan to interact with school districts on both sides of the state line.

The three main tenants — Project Eagle, Juniper Gardens Children’s Project and the Family Conservancy — are moving into one building in an attempt to save money on overhead, create business efficiencies and take advantage of one another’s expertise. The campus is being hailed not just for its early childhood proficiency but also as a model for how social service groups might function in the future.

“Everybody is pointed toward the same goal, and it’s just amazing to see that happening and the energy around this move,” said Betsy Vander Velde, Family Conservancy president and CEO.

The collaboration has drawn high-profile donors, including the Buffett Early Childhood Fund, which not only contributed money but also offered its research-backed approach to school for children to age 5.

“We try to make grants very carefully, and Kansas City cleared a high bar,” said Daniel Pedersen, president of the Buffett Early Childhood Fund.

The three founding tenants have dreamed of a centralized campus for nearly 10 years. They realized the benefit of helping disadvantaged children long ago. But they needed significant private dollars to make it happen.

When they started the fundraising effort, not everyone saw early childhood education as a solid investment. Now the tide appears to be turning.

Groups such as the Buffett Early Childhood Fund have helped change attitudes.

“We want to band together across the United States with people of like mind for this cause — and it is a cause,” Pedersen said.

Pedersen and many others believe early childhood education has been relegated to closed school buildings and church basements for too long.

“Very often, the quality of what goes on there is scary, so there has to be a better way to run this railroad, and I think what Kansas City is doing on Tuesday is giving us all an example of a better way to run this railroad,” he said.

The campus is designed to be a one-stop shop for information. Basic medical care can be given at a health care clinic, and an intake and assessment center will help families find housing and learn how their child’s development compares with peers. The center also will be a place for teachers and others to come for research-driven data and training.

A few days after the agencies moved in, they received a call from a group of Iowa teachers who want to train at the campus.

“This group right here is now a national and international network of the top people in the field,” said Barb Friedmann, a Children’s Campus board member and the director of continuing professional education at the Metropolitan Community College Institute for Workforce Innovation.

On the first floor, Project Eagle will offer its Early Head Start programs for Kansas City, Kan., children 5 and younger.

The program will become the 11th Educare Center in the country. The Educare model, developed in part by the Buffett Early Childhood Fund, is based on the Head Start model but with many more research-based components.

Private and public dollars will be used to boost the offerings. All classes will be taught by highly qualified teachers. Other teachers and parents can come to the school to observe and learn new techniques.

On the second floor, an assessment center called Connections will direct needy families to resources for housing, food, health care and education. The group has eliminated significant paperwork duplications among the three main tenants.

The Family Conservancy headquarters also will support parents and families throughout the metro area by looking beyond the classroom. The group offers classes for parents on a wide range of issues.

On the third floor, the Juniper Gardens Children’s Project will conduct and provide research that teachers can apply directly to the classroom.

The groups already have received grants together and plan to continue more financial endeavors.

“We complement each other a lot,” said Campus CEO Martha Staker, who also is the executive director at Project Eagle. “The other thing that makes us successful is none of us have the same funding sources. So we’re not competing for the same dollars.”

Vander Velde said that five years ago, parents called asking for help finding the closest day care to their home or office. Now, they call to ask about performance- and education-based programs — no matter the location.

“They know that there is a direct correlation between a high-quality program and the benefits their children will get,” she said. “Even though our children are only 20 percent of our population, they’re 100 percent of our future.”

The campus received $2.2 million in New Market tax credits and $1 million in gifts from the Barton P. and Mary D. Cohen Charitable Trust and the J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation. The Buffett group contributed more than $650,000.

Many other donors gave hefty donations, including $12,000 in nickels and dimes collected by Kansas City, Kan., kids.

The return is a building that sits at the gateway to downtown Kansas City, Kan.

“It’s one of the first things you see,” Pedersen said. “It’s right after you drive under the welcome arch. It sends a great message about a community who cares about a really important issue.”

To reach Dawn Bormann, call 816-234-7704 or send e-mail to dbormann@kcstar.com.