District highlights therapy dog, mentorships and counselor programs as part of first-year mental-health pillar

MSD Southwest Allen County Schools officials on March 17 described the first-year implementation of the district's mental-health pillar and highlighted school-level programs that aim to expand proactive supports for students and staff.

Lafayette Meadows principal Jenny Fidel said the elementary school has integrated a fully trained therapy dog named Pepper into counseling work, reading programs and incentive activities. "Our kids just love having Pepper at our building. He's been awesome," Fidel said, describing reading-with-Pepper sessions and a "picnic with Pepper" raffle tied to PBIS points.

Nut graf: District leaders said the mental-health pillar centers on four priorities — raise awareness, assess and analyze needs, curate resources and establish a task force — and emphasized partnerships with community behavioral-health providers and cross-district collaboration to coordinate supports.

What officials presented: Mr. Ankenbrook and Dr. Wolf outlined district-level work to align counselor practices and gather data. An internal counselor survey was cited showing that more than 800 students participated in counselor-led groups in 2025–26; staff-use metrics showed about 40 employees used the employee-assistance program for more than 100 sessions this year. Leaders described planned staff "mental health minute" communications, building-level commitments such as wellness activities, and a mental-health task force that will meet quarterly to review data and direct resources.

The district also emphasized transition supports for students returning from higher-level behavioral placements: staff said they are developing release-of-information and bridge processes with Parkview Behavioral and Maple Heights Behavioral so students can re-enter schools with continuity of supports.

Context and next steps: Dr. Wolf and Mr. Ankenbrook said the work is year one of implementation. The district plans to roll out short staff-wellness surveys this semester, send task-force members to the Indiana Mental Health Summit in Fort Wayne and continue to curate districtwide resources so successful building programs (like Lafayette Meadows' Big Brothers Big Sisters lunch-buddies and second-grade kindness ambassadors) can be scaled or adapted elsewhere.

Budget and scope note: district financial items were reviewed in the meeting; Mrs. Libby reported the education fund cash balance was just over $11 million as of Feb. 28 and the operations fund was about $2.5 million (excluding bond proceeds). Officials said summer-school plans prioritize early literacy with typical state reimbursement around 60% and that transportation will be provided for K–3 summer programming.

What officials said next: leaders asked for continued engagement from staff, families and community partners as the pillar moves from initial programming to longer-term cultural and behavioral indicators of success.

Sources: Lafayette Meadows principal Jenny Fidel; Mr. Ankenbrook; Dr. Wolf; district finance report from Mrs. Libby.