Milwaukee Public Schools is receiving a $5 million, four-year federal grant that will strengthen and expand the district’s pipeline of school psychologists through partnerships with Alverno College and the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Superintendent Brenda Cassellius, EdD, announced Wednesday 

The school-based Mental Health Demonstration Grant from the U.S. Department of Education will pay for training, hands-on practicum placements, and internships of school psychology students from Alverno and UW-Madison.  

Long term, the grant will help the district with recruitment by providing a local pipeline of credentialed school psychologists prepared to serve MPS students.

The announcement was made Wednesday morning at Milwaukee Marshall High School, attended by MPS professionals and leaders including school board Director Erika Siemsen as well as officials from Alverno and UW-Madison.

Demand for student mental health services has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic, and the grant will allow MPS to further expand access to high-quality, school-based services throughout the district.

“Students learn best when they feel supported, safe, and understood,” Dr. Cassellius said. “This investment allows MPS to expand access to school-based mental health services and ensure more students can connect with trained professionals who understand their needs.

“By growing our school psychologist workforce, we are also strengthening the support systems around students and building a more sustainable approach to helping every child succeed — academically, socially, and emotionally.”

Dr. Cassellius noted that “schools are often the first place that students turn for help.”

In recent years, MPS has significantly expanded its student mental health services through the support of voter-approved referenda.

Before the 2020 referendum, MPS employed one school psychologist, counselor, and social worker for every 175 MPS students. The district now has improved the ratio to 1:145.

The grant will further expand MPS’s school psychologist workforce to include five intern positions as well as a half-time mentor and half-time practicum support position, further reducing the staff-to-student ratios districtwide.

Having graduate students in school psychology perform their practicums in the district comes with proven results.

“Nearly half of school psychologists employed by MPS completed their practicum in the district,” said Myah Herro, supervisor in the MPS Office of Psychological Services. “Leveraging the expertise of our current school psychologists to provide high-quality practicum experiences for graduate students has been an essential pipeline for recruitment and retention in our department."

“We know the supervision and support these professionals receive as they enter the field is directly tied to the quality of services they provide to our students,” she said.

In 2025, Milwaukee Public Schools was one of only two districts nationwide to receive a designation of exemplary for its Office of Psychological Services (OPS) from the National Association of School Psychologists. Since 2020, only four districts have achieved this, the organization’s highest level of recognition.

The additional federal investment builds on the OPS foundation by expanding training capacity and formalizing new university partnerships.

Jessica Willenbrink, PhD, program director of the Alverno College School Psychology Program, said school psychologists "often making a lasting difference not only in academic success but in the overall health and stability of families and school communities.”

“Alverno College is deeply committed to preparing exceptional school psychology professionals, and we are honored to collaborate with MPS on this critically important initiative. This partnership not only gives Alverno students a chance to learn directly within Milwaukee Public Schools, it also allows them to have an immediate, meaningful impact on the students they’re serving,” Dr. Willenbrink added.

Kristy Kelly, PhD, clinical professor and director of clinical training in the School Psychology Program at UW-Madison, said, “We see this work as a clear expression of the Wisconsin Idea” — the principle that education should improve lives beyond the classroom — “bringing university expertise... to meet urgent community and statewide needs, especially in public education and children's mental health.

“Through this collaboration, our graduate students will receive high-quality practicum and internship placements directly in Milwaukee Public Schools, allowing them to be mentored, supervised, and trained by local professionals who understand the local community, its needs and resources.”

The district will continue its existing local training program partnerships with UW-Milwaukee, UW-Whitewater and Alverno College.

“It’s a great opportunity for our students,” Dr. Cassellius said of the grant. “If you talk to our students or any of the children in your lives right now — teenagers — you know the heavy burden that they carry around mental health. Things that we, as adults, never actually had to carry growing up, to this extent, at least.”

Social media pressures, growing up in the pandemic, threats seen 24-7 on the news — “it’s just quite unnerving for so many of our kiddos. Having additional professionals to support our kids is going to be critical,” the superintendent said.

The grant, she added, is a testament to the impact that state, federal, and local partnerships have in providing supports for students.