Wisconsin Charter School Summit 2026: Full Schedule

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11:00am CDT

Summit Arrival / Check-In

Monday June 15, 2026 11:00am - 11:30am CDT

All

11:30am CDT

Wisconsin Resource Center for Charter Schools -Welcome

Monday June 15, 2026 11:30am - 12:00pm CDT

All

12:00pm CDT

Lunch w/ WRCCS Network - Authorizer

Monday June 15, 2026 12:00pm - 1:00pm CDT

Authorizer

12:00pm CDT

Lunch w/ WRCCS Network - Design Team

Monday June 15, 2026 12:00pm - 1:00pm CDT

Design Team

12:00pm CDT

Lunch w/ WRCCS Network - Governance Board

Monday June 15, 2026 12:00pm - 1:00pm CDT

Governance Board

12:00pm CDT

Lunch w/ WRCCS Network - Leadership

Monday June 15, 2026 12:00pm - 1:00pm CDT

Leadership

12:00pm CDT

Lunch w/ WRCCS Network - Teacher

Monday June 15, 2026 12:00pm - 1:00pm CDT

Teacher

1:15pm CDT

Governance Boards 101 - From Starting a Board to Running a Strong Meeting

Monday June 15, 2026 1:15pm - 2:30pm CDT

Strong governance boards are the cornerstone of every thriving charter school. Whether you're a new or aspiring charter school board member, stepping into a founding role, or looking to strengthen your existing governance practices, this breakout session is designed to equip you with the essential knowledge and tools for effective charter school board leadership.

Join WRCCS Associate Director Dan Lathrop to learn about:
Building a strong board through recruiting skilled members with expertise in a variety of relevant areas and/or connections that will increase community buy-in and engagement:
- Running efficient and effective meetings by crafting clear agendas, facilitating productive discussions, defining clear action steps, and producing accurate minutes that support accountability and transparency
- Remaining mission-focused and prioritizing strategic proactive activity over reactive management
- Building collaborative relationships with school leaders and authorizers

Monday June 15, 2026 1:15pm - 2:30pm CDT

Governance Board

1:15pm CDT

Innovative Assessment for the Whole Child: How we Measure the Impact of Forest Schooling

Monday June 15, 2026 1:15pm - 2:30pm CDT

Innovative Assessment for the Whole Child: How we measure the impact of forest schooling

Join Kickapoo Valley Forest School (KVFS) founders and educators for an inspiring workshop on whole child assessment. At KVFS, we have intentionally created a matrix to record and communicate the real and important learning occurring through our model of forest schooling. We measure student growth and achievement with traditional academic assessments in literacy and mathematics, but also by tracking a unique set of growth markers we call Multiple Literacies that portray how forest schoolers grow and develop across a full spectrum of modalities. We’ll share the full child development we see across years and how we communicate this to students and families.

Speakers

Jonel Kiesau

Kickapoo Valley Forest School - La Farge School District

Monday June 15, 2026 1:15pm - 2:30pm CDT

Governance Board

1:15pm CDT

Crafting Your Narrative By Telling Your School Story

Monday June 15, 2026 1:15pm - 2:30pm CDT

Crafting Your Narrative By Telling Your School Story
Have you ever been asked about your school and struggled to find a clear, concise way to tell your story? Every school has a mission statement; however, many report they are challenged to find a succinct and coherent way to tell their story. This workshop guides leaders, board members, and/or teachers through a structured process to articulate the purpose of their school and how what they believe is often in conflict with our schools today. We will craft a succinct and compelling “Why Story” that aligns community need, purpose, mission, and success outcomes. Participants will reflect, dialogue, and practice together as they draft a narrative that tells their school story, and they will leave with a story framework to bring back to their team.

Participants leave with a story that articulates the following components

Your belief and purpose statement
Your clearly defined community need
Your school mission or tenets
Your success measures

Speakers

Nick Pretasky

Founder, Listener, and Coach, Humanistic Leadership

Nick's life work is to ensure every person has the opportunity to reach his/her full potential. Nick is the founder and lead listener at Humanistic Leadership LLC where he supports leaders, teachers, and learners in all facets of education. He brings experience working in traditional... Read More →

Monday June 15, 2026 1:15pm - 2:30pm CDT

Leadership

1:15pm CDT

Accessibility Compliance for Virtual Charter Schools

Monday June 15, 2026 1:15pm - 2:30pm CDT

Accessibility Compliance for Virtual Charter Schools
In virtual charter schools, ensuring equitable access to education for all students is not only a legal obligation, but also a moral imperative. Compliance with federal and state laws is essential to provide students with access to online learning platforms, digital curricula, and virtual classrooms. This session will focus on creating accessible virtual learning experiences that meet legal standards, enhance student engagement, and improve learning outcomes. Topics will include:

Understanding accessibility requirements for virtual charter schools
Creating accessible digital content
Implementing differentiated virtual instructional practices
Identifying and addressing common compliance pitfalls in virtual classrooms

Speakers

Steven Duffrin

Associate Director of Wisconsin Virtual School, CESA 9 - Wisconsin Virtual School

Steve Duffrin is Associate Director: Curriculum at Wisconsin Virtual School. He is committed to advancing high-quality and engaging virtual learning experiences for students statewide.

Steve is enthusiastic about the power of technology to personalize education, close opportunity... Read More →

Monday June 15, 2026 1:15pm - 2:30pm CDT

Teacher

1:15pm CDT

Change the Toolkit: Finding the One Tool That Will Redesign Your Entire Approach to Leadership and Teaching (Double Session)

Monday June 15, 2026 1:15pm - 4:00pm CDT

NOTE: This is a double session and spans two presentation time slots. If you sign up for this session, you will be unable to attend a different presentation at the 2:45 time slot.

Part 1
In Part I of this session, participants will break down what they actually believe (and don’t believe) to be true about teaching and learning. We’ll work together and give ourselves permission to disagree and voice our truest thoughts about how students learn. From there, we’ll establish a path forward as we use a new tool that will help drive future decisions around curriculum, technology, and classroom instruction within the school and individual classrooms. Part I will ask you to share, debate, listen, and face some hard truths we all know exist. Changing your toolkit can be hard, but it can be empowering and hopeful when you discover what’s been missing from our education process.

Part 2
In Part 2, participants will take the work from the last session and begin honing and utilizing the one tool that will reshape their school or classroom. The takeaway from this session can and will create changes in how you view curriculum and instructional methods and ultimately start to redesign your entire approach to teaching and learning within your school.

Speakers

Tim Scottberg

Associate Director, WRCCS

Tim Scottberg is the Associate Director for the Wisconsin Resource Center for Charter Schools (WRCCS), a statewide program housed at CESA 9. He is dedicated to fostering high quality teaching practices, leadership, administration, and authorizing. Tim also leads the Center for High... Read More →

Monday June 15, 2026 1:15pm - 4:00pm CDT

All

2:45pm CDT

Framework for Charter Contract Renewal Process and Decision-making

Monday June 15, 2026 2:45pm - 4:00pm CDT

The charter renewal process is the primary method to ensure that schools are meeting performance expectations. As an authorizer, developing and implementing a clearly defined, rigorous, and transparent renewal process is essential for maintaining high quality charter schools.

In this session, experienced authorizer representatives will share best practices for designing and implementing charter renewal processes that emphasize and reward high performance.

Topics will include:- Establishing clear renewal criteria grounded in comprehensive performance expectations (academic, financial, compliance, etc.)
- Creating a fair evaluation process with clear timelines, evidence requirements, schedules for site visits, etc.
- Making data-driven renewal decisions
- Communicating decisions clearly to all stakeholders

Speakers

Bridget Schock

Director, Contracted School Services, Milwaukee Public Schools

Monday June 15, 2026 2:45pm - 4:00pm CDT

Authorizer

2:45pm CDT

Compliance Support for ICS Special Education and Finance

Monday June 15, 2026 2:45pm - 4:00pm CDT

As the governing body of an independent charter school, your board holds ultimate fiduciary and legal responsibility for ensuring full compliance with federal and state requirements in two of the most complex and high-stakes areas: special education and finance. This session will focus on providing a clear framework for effective board-level oversight of special education and financial compliance. Key topics will include:

Understanding the essentials of special education compliance, including IDEA, Section 504, FERPA, least restrictive environments, and monitoring for equity in discipline
Building an understanding of the foundations of financial compliance, including federal grant requirements, board responsibilities for auditing, and charter-specific funding issues
Establishing protocols for regular special education and financial monitoring

Speakers

Chamomile Nusz

Charter School Consultant, Circle Education

Chamomile Nusz is a co-owner of Circle Education LLC, a consulting service working to support innovative education. She works with the Wisconsin Resource Center for Charter Schools (WRCCS) supporting the development of high-performing charter schools throughout the state of Wisconsin... Read More →

Cathy Cramer

ICS Business Mgr Consultant, CESA 1

Monday, June 16th from 2:40-4:30 PM

Monday June 15, 2026 2:45pm - 4:00pm CDT

Governance Board

2:45pm CDT

Expanding the Definition of Student Achievement

Monday June 15, 2026 2:45pm - 4:00pm CDT

Expanding the Definition of Student Achievement

All educators know student achievement involves more than standardized test results, yet we struggle to articulate and implement an expanded definition. Join WRCCS Associate Director Dan Lathrop for this session designed specifically for charter school leaders and teachers. We'll focus on:

Incorporating character, high quality work, and post-secondary readiness skills into how our school communities define student achievement
Communicating this expanded definition to all stakeholders
Adjusting classroom instruction to embed aspects of this expanded definition of student achievement
Assessing, measuring, and reporting on the components of an expanded understanding of student achievement

Participants will leave with concrete strategies and ready-to-adapt resources to implement immediately at their schools. This session will offer practical tools to not only expand our definition of student achievement, but also adjust our practices to better focus on educating the whole child.

Speakers

Dan Lathrop

Associate Director, WRCCS

Dan Lathrop comes to us from the Stevens Point, where he was the leader of a charter school for 12 years. He also has coached schools across the nation, and collaborated locally to build a vast understanding of charter schools, strong relationship-building skills, and trusting systems... Read More →

Monday June 15, 2026 2:45pm - 4:00pm CDT

Teacher

2:45pm CDT

Promising Practices in Project-Based Learning

Monday June 15, 2026 2:45pm - 4:00pm CDT

Promising Practices in Project-Based Learning
Innovation and student-centered approaches are at the heart of the missions of charter schools across the state, and project-based learning is a commonly used instructional model. This session is designed specifically for teachers in project-based classrooms and will focus on promising strategies and classroom practices to maximize student outcomes. Key topics will include:

Designing authentic projects that align with standards that are relevant to students’ lives and make a difference in their communities beyond the school walls
Structuring PBL units with clear guiding questions, learning targets, and culminating products
Integrating formative assessment and student voice and choice into projects
Managing the logistics of a project-based classroom, including student grouping, pacing, and balancing project work with other instructional priorities

Speakers

Zaynab Baalbaki

Charter School Consultant, Education Evolving

Zaynab Baalbaki is extremely passionate about social justice, especially in education. She was teacher-advisor at Escuela Verde in Milwaukee, a teacher-powered school that focuses on social justice, sustainability, and peace. She is the founder of ZB Consulting as the lead justice... Read More →

Monday June 15, 2026 2:45pm - 4:00pm CDT

Teacher

4:00pm CDT

Wrap-Up & Closing Session W/ WRCCS Team

Monday June 15, 2026 4:00pm - 4:30pm CDT

All

Wisconsin Charter School Summit 2026

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Wisconsin Charter School Summit 2026

11:00am CDT

11:30am CDT

12:00pm CDT

12:00pm CDT

12:00pm CDT

12:00pm CDT

12:00pm CDT

1:15pm CDT

1:15pm CDT

Jonel Kiesau

1:15pm CDT

Nick Pretasky

1:15pm CDT

Steven Duffrin

1:15pm CDT

Tim Scottberg

2:45pm CDT

Bridget Schock

2:45pm CDT

Chamomile Nusz

Cathy Cramer

2:45pm CDT

Dan Lathrop

2:45pm CDT

Zaynab Baalbaki

4:00pm CDT

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