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Charter school in motion

Weyauwega-Fremont offers new opportunity for tech-minded students

By James Card


By next year, Fremont will have a school within a school.

A new charter school is being developed and its home will be in the Fremont Elementary School. It will be called the Fremont STEM Academy and will focus on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

The inaugural class will be composed of fifth and sixth graders and later on, seventh and eighth graders.

John Ohlson, the district’s current elementary principal, will be the new charter school’s principal.

On a recent walk-through of the school, Ohlson pointed out the rooms that are earmarked for remodeling. The library will be the main center of activity in the school and it will eventually be loaded with 3D printers, laser cutters, spacious work stations, work benches and other industrial arts-type machines and tools.

Ohlson said the library will be relocated to another part of the building and they also could claim another classroom if more space is needed.

Abutted against the library is a classroom that will also be converted for charter school use. In the wall that separates the two rooms, windows are planned to be installed so a teacher can better supervise the activity in both areas.

The library is at the end of the building and the exterior doors lead out to a sidewalk on Wolf River Drive to the right, and a fenced playground to the left.

Outdoor learning

Ohlson envisions this area for outdoor learning activities. The playground equipment will most likely be moved and repurposed in Weyauwega and that could make room for a greenhouse.

The brick wall that is outside of the library could be cut open to form a garage door for hauling in large-scale projects that the students might want to work on.

He noted that the Wolf River is just across the street and can be used for lessons in the field. He sees the river as a natural resource for learning and a connection to the Fremont community.

All charter schools must meet accountability standards set by the state. Students at charter schools must take the same standardized tests as students in regular schools.

This school’s learning style will be self-paced and self-directed with a focus on hands-on projects and critical thinking.

Ohlson considers this focus when he discusses keeping the library’s meeting pit, a sunken group of seats where students can gather. Visiting consultants pointed out that it’s a great place for students to present their ideas and thoughts in a Socratic Method style of setting.

“And then your fellow students can pepper you with questions. So part of what we really want to do, is to help the students become critical thinkers in a way that is not always provided in the traditional school setting. We want them to go through that whole engineering process, from idea, to revision, to the trials, to revisions again, to the full implementation of how that works. The next step is for them to communicate this device or solution to other people so that it is easily understood,” said Ohlson.

Back in his office, Ohlson had sample drafts of the Fremont STEM Academy school logo: one with a circling rocket ship, another which resembled a winged pilot badge and another featuring sound wave frequency. Even the mascot, is under discussion. Would the students still be the Warhawks? This is the kind of work that needs to be done when building a school from scratch.

Partnership with EAA

The school is building partnerships are being built with the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), Fox Valley Technical College and University of Wisconsin-Green Bay’s engineering department and fabrication laboratory.

The EAA has a classroom that will be open this March and will be available for field trips. The students of the Fremont STEM Academy would be free to utilize their classroom and lab equipment.

“The really nice focus with aerospace, it that it reaches the whole gamut, both of those students that might be thinking for heading to a traditional four-year college and those that were thinking about enter the workforce through tech or the trades,” said Ohlson.

In December and throughout the winter there will be community outreach events for interested students and parents. Enrollment information will be available in January. There will be a limit of 50 students.

“There are specific regulations regarding the application process to charter schools. Everyone will get in but if we have more than the cap then it goes into a waiting list and lottery process. And that is specifically designed to be not biased in that process,” said Ohlson.

Classes will start in early September 2022 and the school year will follow the same district calendar of the other schools with the same vacations and days off.

The school with have two teachers at first. One will be a current teacher, Travis Schuh, and a new teacher will be hired.

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