Madison Reporter

The Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) has been awarded a $50,000 seed grant from the Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment (AHW). This funding is intended to support teen parents in the district's high schools.

Jay Affeldt, MMSD’s associate superintendent of high schools, commented on the initiative: “For many, high school can be daunting under the best of circumstances. We’re committed to helping all of our students realize their full potential, and we expect that this grant will allow us to provide more comprehensive supports for this vulnerable part of our community.”

Currently, MMSD's six high schools have over two dozen documented student-parents who are managing both parenthood and academic responsibilities. The AHW website outlines that the grant will facilitate collaboration among recent teen parent graduates, school staff, healthcare providers, and community partners. This partnership aims to develop tailored health assessments and provide connections to prenatal care and doulas, mental health counseling, peer support networks, and educational mentoring for eligible students.

Leia Esser, MMSD’s executive director of student and staff supports, highlighted the success of their Capital High Parenting Program: “Our Capital High Parenting Program has been a model for what success looks like in terms of ensuring that our teen parents receive the best education possible while at the same time meeting the needs of their young families. We anticipate being able to take the lessons we’ve learned there and more broadly apply them with this aid.”

This grant is one among 66 funded by AHW across Wisconsin for 2025. These grants total approximately $3.9 million and also support initiatives focused on housing security; mental health services; healthy food access; suicide prevention; refugee and immigrant integration programs; as well as sexually transmitted disease prevention and treatment.

AHW operates under the Medical College of Wisconsin. The approval process involved three oversight bodies: the College’s Consortium on Public and Community Health, its Board of Trustees, and the AHW Research and Education Advisory Committee.