Papillion La Vista School Foundation launches $10M campaign for community engagement center; foundation reports steady program growth
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Summary
The Papillion La Vista School Foundation told the school board Aug. 25 it has launched a $10 million campaign to build a community engagement center and reported growth in its Kids Club and fundraising programs.
The Papillion La Vista School Foundation presented its annual update to the school board on Aug. 25 and announced a $10 million fundraising campaign, Growing Up Greater, to build a community engagement center near the district—s central office campus.
Foundation representatives said the foundation has committed $5 million to the project and reported verbal commitments totaling another $2 million, leaving $3 million to be raised in the campaign. The timeline shared at the meeting calls for the campaign to run about three years, with a hoped-for groundbreaking in fall 2026 and a possible grand opening in 2028.
The district-level facility plan described at the meeting would centralize several foundation programs now spread across sites: a larger home for the Community Closet with customer-facing shopping and back-of-house sorting and laundering; headquarters and expanded space for Kids Club administration; and a training and event center for district and community use. Foundation presenters said the site will sit adjacent to the district central office and will be designed to complement nearby city-park renovations.
On program numbers, the foundation reported Kids Club daily enrollment at about 1,245 for the current school year (an increase from prior snapshots). Summer Kids Club enrollment was about 790, and the program employed roughly 100 current or graduated Papillion-La Vista high school students during the summer. Foundation staff said some sites had wait lists: Prairie Queen and Ashbury had been 15—to—20 families on the wait list but recent busing changes reduced those lists to about five families each. The foundation said it had to cap summer Kids Club enrollment at some sites because of construction constraints.
The foundation also highlighted annual activities and funding: about $120,000 budgeted for teacher grants last year (requests totaled about $150,000—$170,000), more than 70 senior scholarships awarded last year, an Anders Food Fund and student emergency funds that support basic needs, and proceeds from a recent soiree that raised approximately $165,000. Foundation leaders said the community engagement center is intended to help scale those services as the district—s enrollment grows.
Board members thanked foundation leaders and noted teacher grants and scholarships as signature services the foundation provides.
