IRIS in Action: Impact of School and Community Collaborations
Date
March 24, 2026, 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM CST
Event
IRIS in Action: Impact of School and Community Collaborations
School teachers and staff are often on the front line of identifying families' complex needs, including non-academic barriers to learning, positioning them as trusted connectors to community services. The IRIS in Action: Impact of School and Community Collaborations virtual session will discuss how IRIS enables school-based staff to activate community partnerships that improve student and family well-being.
Hear from school and Regional Office of Education (ROE) staff engaged in building a referral network in their community and how they created a system that reflects their needs and local context. Learn from ROE and school-based staff as they share their experiences and lessons learned in streamlining referral coordination to replace disconnected processes, ease family burdens, and improve students’ social and health needs.
Presenters
Lisa Allen
Director of Student Supports
Valley View School District, Romeoville, IL
Lisa Allen is an Adjunct Associate Professor at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois, and currently serves as the Director of Student Supports for the Valley View School District. Her career spans 30+ years educating students in public schools from Pre-K to 12, Texas to Illinois, High performing to At-Risk, in General Education, Alternative and Post-Secondary settings. As a teacher, building principal and district level administrator, Lisa's passion for focusing on the whole child has driven a career focused on honoring students while helping them to celebrate their unique and authentic selves.
Kathleen Batistich
Community Outreach Coordinator
Valley View School District, Romeoville, IL
Kathleen Batistich, RN, LCSW, serves as the Community Outreach Coordinator for the Valley View School District. In this role, she works to connect students and their families with community resources that support student well-being, strengthen families, and improve educational outcomes and long-term life success.
Aimee Babin Howard
Community Systems Navigator
Regional Office of Education #47, Sterling, IL
Aimee Babin Howard serves as the Community Systems Navigator for the Regional Office of Education #47. In this role, she supports cross-sector collaboration, strengthens community partnerships, and helps connects students, families, and schools with essential community resources and services.
Mandy Kreps
Director of LEAP(ALOP) Program
Regional Office of Education #26, Macomb, IL
Mandy Kreps serves as the System Data Manager for IRIS and the Director of the LEAP Program at the Regional Office of Education #26. A Macomb, Illinois native, Mandy brings more than a decade of experience in student support, cross-agency collaboration, and systems coordination. Prior to her current role, she served as a Student Success Coach at Spoon River College, where she helped establish student support initiatives including a Student Needs Committee and wellness programming designed to remove barriers to success.
In her work today, Mandy bridges relationships and data ensuring that systems designed to support youth and families are not only efficient, but deeply human-centered. She also directs programming that serves students struggling with attendance, academics, and behavior, where relationship-driven advocacy is at the core of every intervention. Mandy is passionate about restorative practices, collaborative problem-solving, and building systems that respond rather than react. She believes that when agencies communicate clearly and work together intentionally, students and families experience stronger, more coordinated support.
