The Advisory Council assesses community needs and organizes action around those needs so all members of the community have access to learning opportunities. The council consists of volunteers who represent the schools, civic groups and area organizations in the WDMCSD, which includes most of West Des Moines and Clive and small parts of Urbandale and Windsor Heights.

The Community Education Advisory Council was established in the mid 1970's and has created and/or funded numerous programs, services and collaborations like:

• Before and after school childcare
• Summer classes and camps
• Intramurals
• Adult leisure classes
• Safety Town for pre-kindergartners
• Community service opportunities
• Iowa Senior Olympics
• Early childhood family education

The goal of the advisory council is to help improve the community by engaging people to identify needs, and inviting all service agencies and citizens to work together and share resources to meet those needs. It also supports this goal by maximizing the use of school buildings after school hours and by providing learning opportunities for citizens age 1 to 100.

Contact
Information

Shahna Janssen
Dir. of Community Education
3550 Mills Civic Parkway
West Des Moines, IA 50265
(515) 633-5005

Council Members
2007-2008 Members

Features
Survey for Ideas: During the Fall of 2003, the council members completed community-wide needs assessment.

The Advisory Council is working on ways to broaden the community's commitment to character development. Visit the Institute for Character Development.