MN Chartered Public Schools Awarded for Innovative Practices & School Leadership

St. Paul, MN – On Thursday, May 8th, MN Association of Charter Schools (MACS) held its 10th Annual Awards Luncheon at MN Humanities Center in St. Paul, in which three Minnesota chartered public schools were awarded with 2025 MN Charter School Innovation Awards and one Minnesota chartered public school leader was awarded with the 2025 MN Charter School Leadership Award.

The MN Charter School Innovation Awards, established in 2016 in conjunction with the 25th anniversary of Minnesota’s first-in-the-nation chartered public school law, recognizes and documents innovative practices within Minnesota’s chartered public school sector. The award categories derive from Minnesota’s chartered public school law and the five primary purposes of mission-driven chartered public schools: 1) increasing learning opportunities for all pupils; 2) encouraging the use of different and innovative teaching methods; 3) creating different and innovative forms of measuring outcomes; 4) establishing new forms of accountability; and 5) creating new professional opportunities for teachers. Over the past ten years, MACS has awarded 37 chartered public schools for various innovations, each of which aims to “unleash education from convention.”

This year, MACS awarded two chartered public schools from Duluth – Duluth Edison Charter Schools and Harbor City International School – and BlueSky Online Charter School, which is based in Bloomington.

Duluth Edison Charter School received the Innovation Award in the category of “creating new professional opportunities for teachers” for their multi-tiered, teacher-centered professional development system, which provides differentiated professional development opportunities to new and developing teachers. This comes just two years after the school received the 2023 Innovation Award in “increasing learning opportunities for all pupils” for their Reading Activators Program, which pairs 4th and 5th graders with their Kindergarten and first grade peers who struggle with reading to support reading and literacy development, as well as mentorship initiatives.

Harbor City International School received the Innovation Award in the category of “increasing learning opportunities for all pupils” for their Service Learning Symposiums. These hands-on, community-centered learning experiences connect students with their local community and organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, Loaves and Fishes, and the Superior Hiking Trail Association to help build, improve, and maintain their local community. In a typical year, students at Harbor City International School contribute over 4,000 hours of services, positively impacting the Duluth community while gaining practical skills and broadening their worldview.

BlueSky Online Charter School received the Innovation Award in the category of “encouraging the use of different and innovative teaching methods” for their mental health support system and credit-bearing social-emotional support group courses for their students. Their innovative system, which began in 2009, has expanded the impact of BlueSky’s advisory, counseling, and social work teams to provide individualized team-based support for each student while offering them accessible opportunities to learn and develop practical skills to thrive socially, emotionally, and personally. The courses, developed by the school’s social work team and improved based on real-time feedback, includes courses such as “Mind Over Mood,” “Attacking Anxiety,” and “Healing and Dealing,” each of which focuses on topics of mental health and emotional wellbeing.

The MN Charter School Leadership Award, established in 2018, is designed to recognize chartered public school leaders who have demonstrated ongoing organizational and academic leadership, professionalism, innovation, and community engagement. This year, MACS awarded Shannon Peterson, Executive Director at Lakes International Language Academy in Forest Lake. Peterson, a visionary founding member of Lakes International Language Academy, has helped build a thriving, multilingual IB World School rooted in equity, collaboration, and a lasting commitment to educational advocacy and excellence. She is a bold, student-centered leader and strong advocate for Minnesota’s chartered public schools, having developed initiatives to advocate on behalf of her school community and others. The school also received an Innovation Award from MACS in 2022 for their co-teaching model.

Other award finalists for the 2025 MN Charter School Innovation Award: Cologne Academy, Cologne; Crosslake Community School, Crosslake; Northwest Passage High School, Coon Rapids; Sojourner Truth Academy, Minneapolis; and Terra Nova, Buffalo.

Danijela Duvnjak, Superintendent at Hmong College Prep Academy in St. Paul, and Tammy Rackliffe, Head of Schools at Duluth Edison Charter Schools, were the other finalists for the Leadership Award.

For more information on Minnesota’s chartered public schools, please visit mncharterschools.org.

###

About MN Assoication of Charter Schools

The MN Association of Charter Schools, as a membership organization, advocates for fair and just education policies for students in charter schools, supports charter school innovation, quality and accountability, and facilitates cooperation in Minnesota’s charter school community to promote equitable opportunities and excellence in education for students. For more information, visit mncharterschools.org.