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Community school coordinators credit local engagement with attendance and behavior gains
Summary
La Crosse School District community school and neighborhood impact coordinators described needs-and-assets assessments, family engagement strategies and partnerships that district presenters said reduced chronic absenteeism and disciplinary incidents at participating schools.
Alicia Place, community services coordinator for the La Crosse School District, told the board the district began piloting community schools in 2018 and has since expanded that model into neighborhood-based "community impact" work aimed at removing barriers to student learning.
"We do a really comprehensive needs and asset assessment — we ask 75 to 100% of our stakeholders — students, parents, staff and partners — what is needed and what is going well," Place said, describing an intentional process of gathering data and forming targeted partnerships. She said the district only accepts partners who have a clearly defined role and measurable outcomes tied to school priorities.
John Zeno, community school coordinator at Hamilton Elementary, highlighted one intervention born from family feedback. After a 2025 survey showed many students were not arriving at school awake and ready to learn, staff created simple nighttime/morning routine materials and distributed them at conferences; volunteers from three local colleges helped assemble and deliver the resources. "We reduced chronic absenteeism by 17%," Zeno said, adding that average daily attendance rose to 92%.
At North Side Elementary, coordinator Jenna Anfang said inviting families to morning meetings, monthly "donuts with grown-ups" and family celebrations helped strengthen relationships between students, families and staff. Anfang reported measurable improvements after those efforts: "We were able to see a 25% decrease in disruptive behaviors, 42% decrease in disrespectful behavior, and then a 7.8% decrease in overall ODRs." She credited a local grant and partnerships for making the work possible.
Andy Keel, the district's community impact coordinator working in two subsidized-housing neighborhoods, described neighborhood-centered efforts such as a youth leadership group ('STARS') that connected young residents to Northwoods Elementary and to community partners including the Boys & Girls Club. Keel said program participants showed both attendance and behavior improvements during the school year.
Board members praised the outreach model and asked how the district would scale effective practices. One member asked whether the community-school approaches reduced office discipline referrals at participating schools; presenters pointed to North Side's declines in subjective offenses and said stronger family-staff connections appeared to be a key factor.
The district said it will share the presentation with board members and follow up with newsletters and ongoing reports as the programs develop.
