A shuttered century-old school building off Wornall Road is getting a new life. Kansas City Public Schools plans to reopen the long-vacant Southwest High School as the district's first middle school along its southern boundary, with families expected to walk through its doors again in fall 2029.
The plan would turn the 1925 Classical-inspired brick building into a school for 650 to 750 students in grades six through eight, according to reporting by Martin City Telegraph. The configuration fills a gap identified during KCPS's Blueprint 2030 strategic planning process, which called for a middle school serving the district's southern edge. KCPS selected Southwest High School for the project after gathering community input, per FOX4KC.
District spokesperson Shain Bergan told FOX4KC the reopening project will cost roughly $80 million, with KCPS working to preserve the building's history even as crews modernize it. The architectural plans call for removing inefficient additions built in 1962 and 1988 to restore the original south courtyard, while adding a new 17,000-square-foot wing for a gymnasium and storm shelter, according to Historic Kansas City. The original building, designed by architect Charles A. Smith, totals 193,000 square feet.
A Building With Deep South KC Roots
Southwest High School opened in September 1925 on a 12.5-acre site secured by developer J.C. Nichols in the Country Club District, starting with 951 students and 31 faculty members, per Historic Kansas City. Enrollment swelled to nearly 2,500 students by the mid-1960s before decades of decline set in. The school building sits off Wornall Road in Kansas City, FOX4KC reports.
The original high school closed in 1998. The building then housed a charter school until 2005 and later Southwest Early College Campus from 2008 until its closure in May 2016, as detailed by KCUR. Over the decades, the school's alumni rolls grew to include Oscar-winning director Robert Altman, Oscar-winning actor Chris Cooper, author Calvin Trillin, H&R Block co-founders Henry and Richard Bloch, and rapper Tech N9ne, according to Flatland KC.
A Decade of Advocacy From Waldo and Brookside
After KCPS mothballed the property in 2016, a parent-led effort called Uniting at Southwest collected more than 1,000 interest survey responses and secured pledges from major Kansas City foundations, including the Bloch and Stowers foundations, to push for the building's reopening, per Inside Brookside. Residents in the nearby Waldo and Brookside neighborhoods had pressed for local public school options at the site for nearly a decade.
Kevin Kinghorn, who graduated from Southwest High School in 1981, told FOX4KC he is glad the building will finally be put back to use. His sentiment echoes the broader frustration shared by neighbors who watched the historic structure sit empty for years while advocacy groups lobbied district leaders.
Bond Money Covers Part of the Bill
The reopening is funded in part by the $474 million general obligation school bond Kansas City voters approved in April 2025, with 85% approval — the district's first successful bond measure in nearly 60 years, according to KCUR. Of that total, $424 million went to KCPS and $50 million to charter schools. But bond dollars alone will not cover the full Southwest project. While $45.1 million of the estimated $76 million to $80 million reopening cost comes directly from the bond, the KCPS Foundation hired a consultant in 2026 to launch a capital campaign for the remaining funds needed to complete construction and athletic facilities, per The Beacon.
Hoodline has previously reported on bond-funded work elsewhere in the district, including a new entrance at a storm-damaged KC girls school financed through the same 2025 bond measure.
Groundbreaking And Public Input Ahead
Construction is set to break ground in June 2027, with completion timed for the 2029-2030 academic year, Martin City Telegraph reports. KCPS invited the public to a meeting at HJ's Youth and Community Center off Wornall Road on Monday, October 12, 2026, from 5:30 to 7 p.m., according to FOX4KC. Following that public hearing, the district scheduled its second Design Advisory Team meeting for October 26, with a final advisory session set for November to gather feedback from alumni, neighbors, teachers, and parents.
