For nearly two decades, Leah Jones has walked the halls of LifePrep School in St. Paul with the same conviction she carried into her very first classroom; every child can meet, and even exceed, expectations when they are truly seen and shown up for.

Nineteen years ago, she arrived as a young teacher with a determination to build a space where students who had struggled elsewhere could finally be given what they needed to succeed—stemming from a belief that success grows from connection. Today, as the Executive Director of LifePrep, she carries that mission, shaping not just one classroom but an entire community of possibility.

People often misconstrue what makes LifePrep work. “We’ve raised our standards,” Leah says, pushing back on the assumption that supporting students who haven’t experienced success within other schools, but do at LifePrep, means lowering expectations.

For her, excellence begins with earning a child’s trust, showing them day after day that you care deeply about who they are and who they can become. Once that bond exists, she says “everything else falls in place.” 

Leah built her classroom based on community, refining that approach into the very foundation of her teaching. She made every decision by asking herself two questions: “Is it good for kids?’ and ‘How can I make it happen?’”. The challenge, she admits, wasn’t knowing what great learning looked like—rather it was knowing this is what it would take, from the whole school, to see students achieve. Knowing the demand, and even strain, this kind of approach would take on staff. It would take energy, creativity, and commitment from everyone.

In the early years, convincing other teachers to invest that deeply wasn’t simple. It meant asking them to think differently, to stretch themselves, and to believe that the extra effort mattered. But slowly, staff watched how those efforts transformed educating students within her classroom, in real time. And then the shift happened: everyone bought in. Behaviors shifted. Students thrived—they would walk through the doors knowing the expectations are clear, consistent, and rooted in genuine care. Families feel it too. And gradually, that sense of shared commitment to their community became the focal point of the school—a true “learning in a family environment,” lived out daily.

That’s why Kids In Need Foundation has been woven into their culture of care, extending that commitment to something as simple, yet significant, as having the right supplies. As a teacher, those Teacher Resource Center visits were magical for Leah. She’d return to her classroom, cart overflowing, and dump every new supply on the carpet—markers, notebooks, watercolors, prizes—and walk her students through each item as they buzzed with excitement, eagerly awaiting the potential each item brought with it.

Now as Director, Leah tells new staff to watch for an invitation in their inbox—reassuring them that Kids In Need, is in fact, real—but they rarely believe it until they go. New teachers at LifePrep go through the same rite of passage now. They leave curious and come back transformed. Leah laughs, recalling their faces as they roll their cart inside for the first time: “I went to Kids In Need today!”

And she always answers the same way: “I told you it was gonna be great!”

Suddenly, they understand what she’s been trying to tell them. Supplies aren’t just tools; they’re the first building blocks of creating community. Those items, no matter how small, shape the rhythm of each day. Jump ropes become recess when there’s no playground. Watercolors become a window into creativity. Prizes become motivation. Supplies become stability; and stability becomes success.

“The things that you would think might not mean much… it does,” Leah says. Because in a school shaped by belonging, every marker, every book, every pack of crayons becomes part of something larger: a place where teachers can show up fully, where students feel valued, and where families know their children are surrounded by people who care.

For Leah, and for everyone at LifePrep, that’s what education based in community means. Not just teaching lessons, but creating a world that gives students everything they deserve. Building an environment where kids believe in themselves, because the adults around them show them that they will never stop believing either.

“Everything little thing matters,” Leah says. And when her teachers go into each day knowing they have the support from Kids In Need Foundation behind them, they can do incredible things. “You guys do a great job of helping us be our best team, for them.”

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Every day, teachers show up for their students with passion, creativity, and dedication—but too many of them are doing it without the supplies they need to create the learning environments their students deserve. No teacher should have to choose between giving their students the best education possible and paying out of pocket for basic classroom materials.