Marinette School District partnership with NorthLakes expands student support offerings

MARINETTE – For many families, accessing healthcare means that parents miss work and students miss school in addition to planning appointments around busy schedules. With the upcoming school year approaching, Marinette School District (MSD) has partnered with NorthLakes Community Clinic to offer accessible behavioral and dental healthcare during the school day.

Director of Student Services Polly Vanden Boogaard explained that her role involves taking a “whole child” approach to caring for student needs outside of the classroom.

“Part of being the student services director in the special education component, as well as social-emotional wellbeing, which is where mental health comes in,” she explained.

Vanden Boogaard oversees the school-based mental health services program with NorthLakes Community Clinic - Marinette. This partnership began during the 2024 - 2025 school year, during which behavioral health professionals provided one full day of therapy at the middle school and a half-day of therapy at the primary and intermediate schools.

“School-based mental health [services] allows the clinician on-site so that [parents or guardians] don’t have to take their child and drive them to the clinic. The child just goes to their appointment in school on a particular day, sees their therapist and then returns to class. So, it’s kind of a double win - a win from providing support to the student for their mental health needs and also a win in terms of lessening the impact on academic time,” she said.

Vanden Boogaard further explained that she works with the school counselors and social workers to refer NorthLakes’ services to district families.

“That’s really the end of our work because we want to keep the rest confidential between NorthLakes and the families,” she said. The scheduling and billing process is also completed by NorthLakes.

MSD and NorthLakes has continued to support students throughout the summer by transitioning to holding appointments in the clinic which allowed all students enrolled in the program to continue attending therapy.

The school-based mental health program with NorthLakes has been expanded for the 2025 - 2026 school year. An additional clinician will be working with students and services will be available at the high school for one full day each week.

This effort to provide mental health care is just the latest way MSD and NorthLakes have partnered together to support students.

“The school-based mental health program and Seal-A-Smile both really aim at [making sure we have] a healthy student in front of us, whether that’s physical health, emotional health or oral health. If we have a healthy student in front of us, then typically they’re able to get to school and engage in their learning,” Vanden Boogaard said.

This partnership has provided dental care to 361 students, including 182 dental sealants and 895 fluoride varnish treatments for a total of $67,000+ in preventive dental care given.

Although there is no specific date set for when the next Seal-A-Smile event will be held at MSD, the board of education voted to continue the program.

Vanden Boogaard said that taking a “whole child” approach and finding new ways to care about students helps improve their wellbeing inside and outside of the classroom, which is the district’s ultimate goal.

“Any time we can partner with our community and leverage the resources within our community to help our kids, we’re going to do that.”

More information about NorthLakes services available at MSD can be found by reaching out to the student services department.