Local Education & Activities Foundation - LEAF 742

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Local Education & Activities Foundation - LEAF 742

Learn more about us at: www.leaf742.org LEAF is a 501 c3 nonprofit organization, governed by an all volunteer board of directors. Cloud District 742 schools.

Gift support has resulted in an endowment of more than $700,000 and fulfillment of the mission to help support extracurricular and enriched curricular experiences for the students in St.

09/03/2026

Fall Grant Applications are open now through September 24th!

This year, Academic Grants and Activities Grants are open at the same time, making the application process simpler and helping funding reach schools earlier in the year.

Academic Grants: Up to $2,000 for classroom innovation and enrichment.

Activities Grants: Up to $3,000 for extracurricular programs, equipment, and supplies not covered by District budgets.

Funding decisions will be made in October, with grants distributed in November.

Apply online at leaf742.org/grants.

Questions? Contact Natalie Copeland at [email protected] or 320-281-6581.

09/02/2026

🍎 Cheers to 4 Adopted Classrooms! 🍎

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who joined us at Pantown Brewing Company for our Adopt a Classroom fundraiser! Thanks to your support, we raised enough to adopt FOUR District 742 classrooms this fall.

And congratulations to our drawing winner, Ben Thell! Ben will receive a $50 SCHEELS gift card AND gets to choose a classroom to be adopted in his name!

We’re so grateful to Pantown Brewing Company and everyone who came out, grabbed a bite or a drink, left a tip, and helped support our teachers and students.

09/01/2026

A Pantry Restock Surprise! 🥫

We were getting ready to restock our Feeding 742 Kids food pantry when our friends from Bethlehem Lutheran Church arrived—with two cars filled to the brim with donations they had gathered throughout the summer!

A special thank you to Peggy and Chuck Carlson for bringing all of the food to the District office and helping us get the pantry organized and ready for the start of the school year. We appreciate you!

We are so thankful for community partners like Bethlehem Lutheran Church who consistently show up and care for St. Cloud Area School District 742 students and families. Their generosity helps make sure food is there when a family needs it.

The Feeding 742 Kids pantry is available to any family with a child in St. Cloud Area School District. For more information about accessing the pantry, contact Nancy Dyson, District 742 Transitional Services Director, at [email protected].

Want to help keep the shelves stocked? You can make a donation to Feeding 742 Kids here: https://leaf742.org/feeding-742-kids/

08/31/2026

New blog alert!

"Nearly 23% of our students receive special education services, against under 18% statewide. Nearly a quarter are English Learners, more than twice the state rate, many with interrupted formal schooling. Seven in ten qualify for free or reduced-price meals, and we serve growing numbers of homeless students. We also host McKinley Area Learning Center, serving surrounding districts with an intensive, often extended path to a diploma when a traditional classroom hasn’t worked.

None of this is an excuse. It is context: raw comparisons across districts produce the wrong conclusions." - St. Cloud Area School District 742 Superintendent Laurie Putnam

Read the full blog here: https://leaf742.org/blog/common-ground-on-funding-and-accountability-with-the-full-context/

08/27/2026

Attention St. Cloud Area School District 742 staff: Fall LEAF Grant Applications Are Open!

This year, Academic Grants and Activities Grants are open at the same time, making the application process simpler and helping funding reach schools earlier in the year.

Academic Grants: Up to $2,000 for classroom innovation and enrichment.

Activities Grants: Up to $3,000 for extracurricular programs, equipment, and supplies not covered by District budgets.

Applications are open now through September 24, 2026. Funding decisions will be made in October, with grants distributed by November 1.

Apply online at leaf742.org/grants.

Questions? Contact Natalie Copeland at [email protected] or 320-281-6581.

08/26/2026

You may know that LEAF 742 has been making St. Cloud Area School District 742 sports accessible to local students for decades. But did you know that we have worked with 742 staff and our local community for years on this dream of having sports physicals available at Tech and Apollo? To see it come to fruition is proof that truly there is nothing the St Cloud area can not accomplish together.

Shout-out to Aslan Health Clinic and St. Cloud Kiwanis Club for partnering to make this a reality. 80 students in our community are now ready to play a fall sport thanks to your partnership!

08/25/2026

Each year, LEAF 742 is proud to co-sponsor Welcome Bags with St. Cloud Area School District 742! Every new student, from Kindergarten to 12th grade, is visited at home by 742 staff and given a bag with important information and fun items.

We take belonging seriously. As Superintendent Putnam says, every child, every day❤

08/24/2026

Congrats, Allie, on being a 2026 State Clay Target Champ!

We were proud to award a Spring Activities grant to the Apollo and Tech Clay and Trap Team🐅🦅

08/20/2026

We are one of the proud Central Minnesota Community Foundation grant recipients for their Thomas Ritsche Youth grant! This grant will go towards LEAF's Activities Participation Fund, helping St. Cloud Area School District 742 students have what they need to participate in after school activities.

We are proud to be in a community who believes in our vision that family finances should not preclude a student from being on their school's volleyball team or trying a new activity like clay/target shooting!

08/19/2026

Another Read and Roll Summer is complete! Our final night at Summertime by George brought toothy smiles and the goodness of caregivers reading to their children.

Thank you to everyone who has supported our summer library bus throughout the years. From St. Cloud Area School District 742 to Rotary Club of St. Cloud to Morgan Family Foundation and individual donors, our community continues to show up for student literacy so we can help fight the "summer slide"📚

Address

101 7th Avenue South, Ste 203
Saint Cloud, MN
56302

Telephone

+13202816581

Website

http://www.leaf742.org/

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