DESCRIPTION:

‍ ‍School districts across rural Wisconsin are navigating a variety of challenges including decreasing enrollment, financial difficulties, and increasingly intense student, family, and community needs. This session will provide administrators and educational leaders with forward-thinking program models aimed at serving students and their communities while simultaneously increasing enrollment and cultivating deep connections with a variety of groups.

We will explore innovative and practical approaches including, but not limited to: student-centered charter schools, content-specific academies, leadership programs, specialized career and college pathways, trade-focused apprenticeship programs, community-centered project work, business development hubs, enriched fine arts and health initiatives, and flexible learning options that celebrate the assets of rural life. Attendees will gain ideas, insight, and frameworks that foster a sense of student ownership, develop unique academic pathways, and establish schools as centers of community vitality.