Madison elementary school receives ‘community school’ grant, expands resources for students and families

Adults and children attending an event at “Open School House Night” hosted at Aldo Leopold Elementary (Jacy Zollar/Madison Commons)

Aldo Leopold Elementary utilizes their after-school hours to host an “Open School House Night” every Tuesday from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

The program began in 2014 as a way to incorporate drop-in classes and activities for a community that may otherwise lack access to these  opportunities.

“This neighborhood doesn’t have a community center; it doesn’t have a church that’s taken over the community.  It’s right on the beltline, which makes walking places very difficult,” Community Learning Center Director Sami Clausen-Ruppert said. “So we love that we can use our facility for that.”

Last week Leopold received a $100,000 grant to become a community school from the Foundation for Madison Public Schools. This will allow the school to become a community center after hours, where they will focus on services like health care, child care, food programs, family support and academic mentoring.

This grant will allow their highly demanded “Open School House Night” to become a nightly program.

“This is a hub with so many kids and so many things that people want to get in here, and this grant opens the door to all those possibilities,” Clausen-Ruppert said.

The goal of the open house program is to create more positive interactions within the school building outside of academics.

According to Clausen-Ruppert, Leopold has issues with attendance and achievement, therefore kids and families have to want to be at school and feel like it is a positive place.

“If you’re not fed or clothed and don’t have health care or a job, school is the last on your list. We try to use this venue to bring in more resources so that some of those factors can help get taken off their plate and they can see school as a place that’s helping them." 

Sami Clausen-Ruppert leads the after school program and is the director of the community learning center (Jacy Zollar / Madison Commons)

Clausen-Ruppert says they want something that benefits adults and parents as much as kids. It offers parents an outlet to meet and interact with each other, meet teachers and make connections that they would not otherwise get.

One of the programs offered through the “Open School House Night” is a series of Crock-pot cooking classes.

Through this program, families receive a free Crock-pot, donated by Group Health Cooperative, and they can go prepare a meal to take home and cook in the Crock-pot. The Bridge, a faith-based organization in Madison, provides all of the food and teaches the class.

This is the third year the Crock-pot program has been hosted at Leopold. The four-week program focuses on a different theme each year, with this year’s theme being soups.

“I think it’s a good way to help get kids excited about cooking and nutrition and helping in the kitchen,” Allison Chadwick, who participated in the classes with her daughter, said. “I think if kids can have more of a hands-on approach, they’ll appreciate what they’re eating.”

Her daughter Sydney’s favorite part? “I love that I get to make dinner with my mom.”