Central Place and the Altoona Kiwanis welcome babies into the school district by delivering a packet of information about the care and feeding of newborns, plus resources of interest to new parents.
Each packet includes a letter from the Southeast Polk superintendent, welcoming the child to the district and assuring parents that a desk is waiting for their child in five years. Packets also include a board book to encourage learning from the very start.
Volunteers from Altoona, Mitchellville and Runnells watch newspaper birth announcements for new babies in their communities, then call the parents and offer to drop off a packet. (Packets are not delivered regularly to Southeast Polk residents in the Des Moines and Pleasant Hill parts of the district, as newspaper birth announcements make it difficult to determine what district the family lives in.)
The Altoona Kiwanis, who provide the receiving blankets, board books and other packet items, assemble packets twice each year to keep on hand for the deliverers.
