Kornerstone Implementation I FINAL

8/4/2019 Kornerstone Implementation I FINAL

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Intellectual Property of Michael McCabe & Friends

I. The Charter School Vision for Innovation

1. Describe the educational vision and philosophy which will drive your charter school

implementation effort including the underlying theories and research which supportthat vision. Include the following:

a. Include a vision or mission statement.

Mission Statement: Provide a learning environment where studentspassions direct the day-to-day learning. Students create projects andbecome active citizens in their community. Kornerstone School willprovide students with the foundation to get into their profession ofchoice and make a significant impact on their community.

Our Vision Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir mens

blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans;aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagramonce recorded will never die, but long after we are gone will be a livingthing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistency. Remember that oursons and grandsons are going to do things that would stagger us. Letyour watchword be order and your beacon beauty. Think big.

---Daniel Burnham, Chicago architect. (1846-1912)

b. Describe why a charter is needed to achieve the vision. How is the schoolinnovative or unique and how will it differ from the schools now currently

available to students in the district?

Design flaws in the traditional educational system prohibit theimplementation of student directed Project Based Learning (PBL) andService-Learning pedagogies. The top-down hegemony existing inschool districts does not allow for a small school to be teacher led.

Kornerstones Big Plans These will happen, many of them alreadyhave

All students in Kornerstone School will strive for mastery in allfive major employability areas: Work Ethic, Communication,

Collaboration, Problem Solving & Critical Thinking, and SocialResponsibility. These 21st Century skills are the 5 most soughtafter applied skills by employers hiring high school graduates.Creativity and Leadership are two additional skills constantlycultivated in students.

First purely teacher-led instrumentality charter school in the


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Mission Focus: preparing students for their profession of choice

State of Wisconsin. Teachers run the day-to-day operations.Teachers peer evaluate other teachers. Administrative duties aredivided up among teaching staff.

Kornerstone School Incorporated, a 501 (c) 3, will act as theGovernance Board of the public chartered school. Having tax

exempt status will allow Kornerstone School to achieve theentrepreneurialvision of charter schools. We are the firstinstrumentality in Wisconsin to achieve this during start-up.

On a daily basis, students will direct PBL and Service-Learningcurriculum. PBL focuses on individual projects, and Service-Learning focuses on student driven group projects. The projectsare tied to the Common Core Standards.

Each student develops an expertise area. Students create theirown expertise area related to their profession of choice orpassion.

o All students work in an internship for at least 1 semester

during their fifth year.o All students lead at least 3 seminars for the Kimberly

community to share their knowledge in their expertisearea.

o Each student has a community mentor & an advisor

provides upward progression in student's expertise area.

All students have access to emerging technologies and theopportunity to develop technology literacy talents.

Kornerstone strives for Excellence in Autonomy. The charteredschool serves as a model other communities can adopt.

The Kornerstone are: Learning, Design, System, and Community.Through integrating these different modes into projects, studentsdevelop into competent citizens and confident creators.

Modified schedule 2-week breaks in October, December, andMarch.

Multi-age advisorieso By 2013-2014, Kornerstone School no longer operates

under the age-segregated grading system.o As of August 1, 2013, students enter Kornerstone School as a Year 1

student; they will need to finish at least Year 3 in order to earn adiploma.

c. Summarize research supporting the visions

The work of John Dewey, Sir Ken Robinson, Howard Gardner, DanielPink, and EdVisions have shaped

this school. Deweys work regarding hands on learning and creatingactive citizens able to construct a democracy has shaped several ofthe visions. Robinsons work on creativity and school redesign has

Learn. CreateInspire 2


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been very instrumental in allowing the planning team to dream big.Howard Gardners work on Multiple Intelligence theory relates directlyto each student having his or her own Personalized Learning Plan.Daniel Pinks work on creativity and motivation, Drive (2009) and AWhole New Mind (2006), call into doubt many of the practices carried

out in the traditional school system.Another group of literature supporting Kornerstone Schools vision isthe work coming out of UW-Madisons Games-Learning-Society (GLSDepartment). Halversons Rethinking Education in the Age ofTechnology (2009) and Curtis Bonks The World is Open (2008) bothsupport the notion that students are entering an Idea Economy andnew tools exist for learners to utilize.

The work of James Paul Gee regarding video games and literacysupports many of the exploratory learning practices that are carriedout during Inquiry. Kurt Squires and Seann Dikkers work relating to

video games in After School Programs also support our Inquiryprogram.

2. Provide a description of:

a. The grade levels of children to be served and the projected enrollment numbers;

*Projections listed below are subject to change pendingunforeseen variables

2011-12 2012-13 2013-2014(capacity)

8th

(Year 1) 15 students 8th

(Year 1) 15 students Year1 15 students9th (Year 2) 15 students 9th (Year 2) 15 students Year2 15 students10th (Year 3) 15 students 10 (Year 3) 15 students Year3 15 students

= 45 Students 11 (Year 4) 15 students Year



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4 15 students= 60 students Year 5 15

students= 75 students

Kornerstone School scales up one grade level and adds 15 students

per year for 2012 and 2013. Beginning in the fall of 2013, the schoolreaches capacity with 75 students in grades 8-12. At the time of thispublication, Kornerstone School has enrolled 34 students (and anotherdozen have applied). As stated on the schools website; Phase I ofenrollment ended Friday, February 25. All applicants were enrolled! Westill have 11 enrollment slots; Phase II of enrollment remains open untilFriday, May 20. If necessary, a lottery will occur on May 23. TheKornerstone School staff is anticipating a random lottery to be held onMay 23. Phase II of enrollment is still drawing students from inside theKimberly Area School District.

Kornerstone School requires students attend for at least three fullacademic school years in order to earn their diploma. Therefore,students gain the full benefits of the community mentorship program.Students entering Kornerstone School after completing their 9th gradeat a traditional school have their credits transferred into KornerstoneSchool credits and enter as a Year 3 student if they have successfullypassed their classes at the traditional school. The Master Agreementbetween Kornerstone School, Inc and the Kimberly Area School Districtstipulates that students can be entered after their 10th grade ifapproved by the Kornerstone School, Inc Governance Board.

b. The primary educational model used to meet the charter school vision and how it

will be implemented;

The primary education model used to meet the charter schools visionis fusing student-directed PBL and Service-Learning. KornerstoneSchool is implementing the advisory model. KS is opening with threeadvisories. Each advisory will consist of 15 students. Each advisory ismulti-aged. Students begin their day at 9am in Advisory. For 45minutes, they gather in their group and work on mastering elements ofthe PBL process. Advisory is also a time to address school culture andschool climate issues. From 9:45am 10:30am, students work onALEKS Math. From 10:30am-12pm, students have PBL time, and thentheyre off to lunch. From 12:30pm-1:45pm, students have Literacy.From 1:45pm 3pm students engage in self-directed project basedlearning. From 3-4pm students have Inquiry.

For nearly 3 hours per day, students engage in learning what they arepassionate about. This innovation has worked successfully at dozens ofschools across the county. Rather than being the sage on the stage,teachers are facilitators during PBL time. Students meet one on onewith their advisors for 30 minutes each week. The in-depth meeting



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allows student and advisor to maintain a series of weekly goals for thestudent to achieve. Kornerstone School incorporates one hour ofexploratory time into every school day. The combination of organizedsteady work whereby students learn how to learn -- blended with anhour of exploratory learning is an innovation implemented by

Kornerstone School.Literacy Implementation

Literacy is a crucial element of Project-Based Learning. Students mustknow how to decode, analyze, synthesize, and problem solve. Studentsdeveloping their voice as a reader and writer lead to comprehensiveprojects. Literacy is a part of the day when everyone at KornerstoneSchool reads and journals for 45 minutes. It is imperative that astructure exists for students to excel in Literacy from the first dayKornerstone School opens its doors. Students need choices and optionsfor reading and writing.

Kornerstone School has three major Literacy initiatives to implementduring the 2011-12 school year. The Literacy initiatives are a studentrun writers workshop, blended learning book study, and intensiveextensive staff coaching. Kornerstone School has a consultant lined upto implement the initiatives. This consultant has training andexperience in setting up a student run writers workshop.

Blending learning is the way many Kornerstone School students will goto college. Blended learning combines face-to-face instruction withasynchronous methodologies such as recorded video, forums wherequestions are threaded, and blogs. Blended learning requires different

literacys and skill sets than traditional face-to-face instruction. Itsimperative that Kornerstone School students have multipleopportunities to explore blended learning. The consultant targeted hasfour years of experience of providing blended learning via Moodle. Inconjunction with Kornerstone School advisors, the consultant willintegrate online book studies into the core curriculum of the school.Consistent with Kornerstone School, Inc Bylaws and Master CharterAgreement, the Kornerstone School Governance Board screens andhires the Implementation Literacy Specialists.

A certain pride and onus exist among high achieving PBL schools. Theteachers at Valley New School and Minnesota New Country School are

confident in their abilities as a facilitator to work with students in avariety of disciplines. The planning team has determined furtherLiteracy training is needed for KS advisors to increase their fluency inworking to improve young writers. PBL is writing intensive. Draft afterdraft after countless draft, the advisor must continue to assist in theconstruction and creation of student projects. Therefore, pendingapproval of this grant, the Governance Board will determine if aconsultant can be hired to carry out the three major Literacy initiatives



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outlined in this section. The Governance Board has targeted a specificconsultant who is a part of a Teacher Professional Practice and will beable to work 2-4 hours per week at Kornerstone School on these threeinitiatives. This consultant has already collaborated with staffextensively during the planning year and pre-planning year.

Inquiry Exploratory Time

Project-Based Learning is rigorous. During school visits to various PBLschools, Michael McCabe would pull students aside and ask them, Ifyou could change one thing about your school, what would it be?Many students voiced a specific request, I wish I had some time toplay. The PBL process is defined. Students work the process day afterday. Young adults still need time to be kids. Adolescents need time toexplore various interests. Inquiry is that time. For one hour each day,students will get to explore an area that interests them on thatparticular day.

Take a 16 year old student, well call him Jon. Jon is passionate aboutentrepreneurship. His projects typically deal with businesses andmarketing. However, Jon has a very broad interest level. For Jonscurrent projects, hes working on a year-long 19th Century BritishLiterature project for literacy. Hes working on a clean water projectand he also has a Guerilla Marketing project going. During Inquiry, Jonwants to explore Adobe Illustrator on Monday. Tuesday he decides tocreate a banner for his desk area using Adobe Illustrator. Jon is also anavid gamer. On Wednesday, he is researching strategies to increasehis guild status in World of Warcraft, and he touches base with anexpert via Twitter. On Thursday, Jon decides he needs to sharpen his

understanding of compound interest. He decides to watch a lecturefrom a Yale professor through iTunesU. On Friday, Jon is anxiouslyanticipating his upcoming fishing trip Up North over the weekend. Hedecides to explore the water quality of the lakes hes planning to fishon.

Kornerstone School is taking best practices from after school programsand placing the activities right into the school day (see Squire SectionI.c & Google Harvards ASP study)

During Inquiry, staff and students can work together to plan upcomingevents or coordinate Big Ideas. Students participating in extracurricular

activities are excused from Kornerstone School at 2:45pm so they cango and participate in their Inquiry-based activity. Inquiry is a veryexciting opportunity that is unique to Kornerstone School.

Blended Learning

A student graduating high school in the year 2012 is thrust directly intothe idea economy (See Daniel Pinks summary above). Professions areno longer guided by credentials; rather, skill sets and connections with



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colleagues drive work opportunities. However, contemporary Americaneducation has increasingly become more and more reliant on havingall student work towards a common set of standards through similarassessments. This stagnated movement towards an elusive target inwhich every student is Advanced on a high stakes test runs counter to

the Idea Economy young adults ought to be prepared for. In order toadequately prepare young adults for their profession of choice,Kornerstone School must get students actively participating in theknowledge economy while they are still in high school. Blendedlearning is a vehicle- if harnessed properly, the pedagogy leads todramatic increases in student participation and engagement.

Blended learning is combining multiple forms of media into a series ofeducational lessons that are self-paced. Countless rich examples ofblended learning are readily available to anyone with access Mobilelearning work completed and approved for trial in the planning granthas led to such school core philosophies as learning anytime

anywhere, asking why instead of saying no, and personalizingeverything to the student so they are co-creators their educationalexperience. The planning team spent considerable effort and money toinvestigate the possibility of providing each student with a schoolissued Smartphone and unlimited data. The year long trial and twoyear long discussion has led to the following conclusion: theopportunity is more important than the actual device. Studentsneed an opportunity to participate in their own learning in a radicallydifferent way than is currently being offered in traditional education.Through iTunes U, any learner can spend an entire day taking a GameTheory course through Yale, a History of Islam course through UW-Madison, and get coached up on Biology from a 90-year olddistinguished lecturer at UC-Berkley. And all of this is done for free. It isno coincidence the Idea Economy has exploded at the same time inhistory as the opportunity to learn. Barriers prevent most high schoolstudents from doing the online course work described here. Onlinelearning continues to have a stigma associated with it; whether theassociation is forced by the traditional education system or perceivedby the studentit is real.

The unique opportunity presented to Kornerstone School is this:blended learning is a part of our school design. From the first day

students step foot in Kornerstone School, they will see whatcoursework their advisors are currently participating in. For example,one advisor is learning Chinese with his two-year-old daughter with theRosetta Stone software. Whereas another teacher is learning Arabicthrough Babbel, a free website. A natural entry point exists forstudents in Kornerstone School to take healthy risks and try somethingnew. Kornerstone School is taking full advantage of the open sourceeducational opportunities. Staff model lifelong learning by actively



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participating in just in time learning.

c. The measurable goals of the charter school for each of the first three-years (thisdoes not include student achievement goalsthese are addressed in question(e) below);

d. The means of measuring the charter school goals each year; See Activitysection listed in Table I-III below

Table I Kornerstone School Goals 2011-12

Goal Activity Assessmen

Students have apersonalized &customizable educationexperience

100% of all students at KornerstoneSchool will have a Personalize LearningPlan (PLP) by 9/1/2011

Project Fou

Increase student

proficiency in math by theend of the first school year

60% of all students will increase their

proficiency from Fall to Spring in the2011-12 school year. 100% of studentswill be tested

MAP Test

Increase studentproficiency in reading bythe end of the first schoolyear.

60% of all students will increase theirproficiency in reading from Fall to Springin the 2011-12 school year. 100% ofstudents will be tested

MAP Test

Increase students ability tolearn and create anytime,anywhere

100% of all students at KornerstoneSchool will have a mobile learningdevice

Annual Rep

Transition students from

guided projects to student-directed projects

By Thanksgiving break, 80% of all

students will have completed a 30 hourproject; & by Feb 1 80% of all studentswill have completed a 60 hour project

Project Fou

Implement small-groupService-Learning projects

By June 1, 2012, 80% of all students willparticipate in a MicroProject orMacroProject

Project Fou

Table II Kornerstone School Goals 2012-13



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Table III Kornerstone School Goals 2013-14

Learn. CreateInspire

Goal Activity Assessment

Engage students in theglobal learning community,open classroom

We will train 60 KS students to facilitatediscussions via Skype with individualsaround the world and 80% of KS

students will integrate an internationalexpert into at least one project

Project Foundry

Begin disseminating theKornerstone Message

Each Kornerstone School advisor willcontribute one piece of professionalliterature to the Wisconsin PBL Networkor other Professional Learning Network

End of Year StaffEvaluation

Begin new terms onGovernance Board

A new guru and Lead Teacher will beelected to the Kornerstone School, IncGovernance Board by May 31, 2013

GovernanceBoard Minutes &Annual Report

Continue CommunityMentorship 3-year vision

We will place 15 students intointernships/apprenticeships with a100% success rate

CommunityMentorship LeadEvaluation Notes

Professional developmentfor new staff members

2 staff members shall go through theentire 30 Days of Getting Coached Upprotocol

KornerstoneSchool Wiki, StafEvaluations

9


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e. The measurable student achievement goals for each of the first three years;

Place student will in front of each student goal in Table IV-Table XI

f. The means of measuring the student achievement goals; You must include anationally standardized reading and math assessment instrument(s) to beadministered fall and spring for each of the first two years of operation, (e.g. Iowa Testof Basic Skills, Metropolitan, NWEA Measure of Academic Progress, Stanford

Achievement Test, etc.) and how the instruments will be used to improve instructionand track achievement over time.

Ongoing Goals

Students will successfully demonstrate the KornerstoneEmployability Areas (Good Communication, Work Ethic,

Learn. CreateInspire

Goal Activity Assessment

Graduate First Class 90% of our Year 5 students willgraduate by May 31, 2014 with theirKornerstone School Diploma

Project Foundry

Implement Protocol ForYear 5 Capstone Projects

We will co-create a protocol for projectswith our 15 Year 5 students and areview panel will approve 80% of the

projects.

Review panelmade up of KSstaff, &

CommunityMentors

Reach Capacity andEliminate Age SegregatedGrades

By May 31, 2014, we will enroll 15additional students and reach capacityof 75 students aged 13-19 in Year 1through 5

Annual Report;Salesforce.comReports

Continue CommunityMentorship 3-Year Vision

We will place 15 students intointernships/apprenticeships with a100% success rate


Platform for Senior Projects By March 1, 2014, we will provide allYear 5 students with their own hostingoptions to manage their website

Student ExitInterviews,Project Foundry

Disseminate KornerstoneSchool Message Further

Successfully receive disseminationgrant from DPI and train 15 schools peryear on leveraging Web 3.0 tools,Community Mentorship Program, andFusing PBL with Service-Learning

DPIDisseminationGrant ApplicationReviewerBenchmarks; KS,Inc AnnualReport

10


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Collaboration, Social Responsibility, and Problem Solving &Critical Thinking).

At least three times per year, students will display their work tothe entire Kimberly community.

Students will demonstrate competency with technology andmobile learning devices. Using these tools students will produceauthentic original work pieces publishable to the entire world.

Table IV Student Goals 2011-12

Goal Activity AssessmentStudents will have apersonalized & customizableeducation experience

100% of all students atKornerstone School will have aPersonalize Learning Plan (PLP) by9/1/2011

Project Foundry

Increase student proficiency

in math by the end of thefirst school year

60% of all students will increase

their proficiency from Fall toSpring in the 2011-12 school year.100% of students will be tested

MAP Test

Increase student proficiencyin reading by the end of thefirst school year.

60% of all students will increasetheir proficiency in reading fromFall to Spring in the 2011-12school year. 100% of students willbe tested

MAP Test

Increase students ability tolearn and create anytime,anywhere

100% of all students atKornerstone School will have amobile learning device

Annual Report

Transition students from

guided projects to student-directed projects


students will have completed a 30hour project; & by Feb 1 80% ofall students will have completed a60 hour project

Project Foundry

Implement small-groupService-Learning projects

By June 1, 2012, 80% of allstudents will participate in aMicroProject or MacroProject

Project Foundry

Table V Student Goals 2012-13

Goal Activity AssessmentStudents will have a

personalized & customizableeducation experience

100% of all students at

Kornerstone School will have aPersonalize Learning Plan (PLP) bythe first day of school

Project Foundry

Continue to increasestudent proficiency in math

75% of all students will increasetheir proficiency from Fall toSpring in the 2011-12 school year.100% of students will be tested

MAP Test

Continue to increase 75% of all students will increase MAP Test



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student proficiency inreading

their proficiency in reading. 100%of students will be tested

Continue students ability tolearn and create anytime,anywhere


Annual Report

Continue to student-

directed projects as apedagogy


students will have completed a 30hour project; & by Feb 1 90% ofall students will have completed a60 hour project

Project Foundry

Continue small-groupService-Learning projects

By June 1, 2013, 90% of allstudents will participate in aMicroProject or MacroProject

Project Foundry

Improve CommunityMentorship Program

By the end of Year 4 (11th grade),at least 90% of all studentsattending Kornerstone will have aCommunity Mentor


Table VI Student Goals 2013-14

Goal Activity AssessmentStudents will have apersonalized & customizableeducation experience

100% of all students atKornerstone School will have aPersonalize Learning Plan (PLP) by9/1/2013

Project Foundry

Continue to increasestudent proficiency in math

90% of all students will increasetheir proficiency in math. 100% ofstudents will be tested

MAP Test

Continue to increase

student proficiency inreading

90% of all students will increase

their proficiency in reading. 100%of students will be tested

MAP Test

Maintain students ability tolearn and create anytime,anywhere


Annual Report

Transition students fromguided projects to student-directed projects

By Thanksgiving break, 95% of allstudents will have completed a 30hour project; & by Feb 1 95% ofall students will have completed a60 hour project

Project Foundry

Replicate small-groupService-Learning projects

for other schools

By June 1, 2012, 95% of allstudents will participate in a

MicroProject or MacroProject; & KSstaff will compile a best-practiceprotocol to be disseminated toother practitioners

Project Foundry;kornerstonescho

3. Address the following:



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a. Explain how the charter school provides its students core academic subjects;

In student directed PBL, the State Standards are tied directly tostudent projects. Kornerstone School leverages Project Foundry.Project Foundry is a Web 2.0 learning tool that makes the PBLprocess interactive and transparent. Students create project proposals

on Project Foundry. The proposal process generally takes between 5-10 hours to complete. Parent/guardians sign off on the projectproposal. Students then propose the project to at least two differentadvisors. The proposal process requires students to meshinterdisciplinary skills sets. A part of the project proposal process isconnecting the State Standards to individual projects. The studentworks with their advisor to align all of the State Standards to variousprojects completed by students.

All students do math for 45 minutes every day. All students do Literacyfor 45 minutes every day. Both math and Literacy are personalized tothe student. Kornerstone School uses ALEKS Math program. ALEKSis an online math program used by successful student-directed PBLschools such as Valley New School (Appleton, WI) and Minnesota NewCountry School (Henderson, MN).

Kornerstone Schools Literacy program blends best practices already inplace in Kimberly Area School District and explores uniqueopportunities presented in a small school during start-up. At the timeof this publication, Kornerstone School had not hired an Englishteacher. The Governance Board request a Literacy ImplementationSpecialist to put in place curriculum and school-wide projects puttogether during the planning year. From 12:45-1:30pm all students in

Kornerstone School will be reading and reflecting. However, studentreading is constructed by the same principles guiding projects: studentvoice, and student choice. A Year 1 student may choose to read aclassic such as Alexander Dumas The Count of Monte Cristo; whereas,a Year 4 student may choose to do a yearlong Literacy project focusingon 19th Century British literature, or vice-versa. In both situations, eachstudent is addressing the high school English standards.

Approximately two months prior to the beginning of KornerstoneSchools planning grant cycle (June 2, 2010), the State of Wisconsinadopted the Common Core Standards. Kornerstone School staff andKornerstone School, Incorporated (the Governance Board) have goneto great lengths to integrate the Common Core Standards into thediploma requirements. Project Foundry had the lapsed StateStandards loaded. The former State Standards were easily interpretedfor subjects such as Literacy. Students needed to read six completetexts throughout a school year. The new Common Core Standards aremore of a collection of best-practice examples. The Common CoreStandards are not as specifically delineated as the former State



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Standards. With this in mind, Kornerstone School formed a curriculumcommittee to align the Common Core Standards with the formerlyused State Standards. The Kornerstone School curriculum committeemet throughout August and September of 2010. The team included ateacher from each of the licensed core areas other than math, and the

Assistant Superintendant. The team of four people logged more than100 hours of curriculum time. The culminating experience was an allday gathering of the curriculum team to create sample students andmap out the Common Core Standards with student projects over a five-year span. The planning grant permitted these teachers to becompensated for their time. The products created by the planningteam allowed Project Foundry to easily load the Common CoreStandards into their application.

Science and social studies fit naturally into student-directed PBL.Kornerstone School also provides seminars. A seminar is a courseorganized in a manner more closely resembling the learning that takes

place at the university level. If three or more students want to take acourse, a Kornerstone School Lead Teacher will organize the coursewith the students. A typical seminar would meet 2-3 times per weekduring morning or afternoon PBL time.

As an instrumentality, students have the option of traveling toKimberly High School for any core academic subjects they choose toparticipate in. For some students, the traditional setting may bebeneficial to addressing core academic courses.

b. Justify why the charter school is an elementary or secondary school and not justa program within an existing school or district.

For an answer to question, please go to the following website,http://www.kornerstoneschool.org - you will see a fully functioningcharter school and not a program. We have our own building. We haveour own staff. We have our own students. We exist outside of everyother school, program, or area. We are developing a protocol forteachers to evaluate other teachers. We are on a modified schedulewhereby students go to school for 10-weeks then get a 2-week break.Kornerstone School is a chartered school in every sense of the word.

4. Describe the charter schools five-year professional development plan byanswering the following questions:

Complete only if your answers have changed since you submitted a planning grant.

a. What specific competencies, skills and knowledge do teachers andadministrators need in order to successfully deliver the proposed curriculumand instruction at the charter school?

Teachers must place students at the center of the school. Kornerstoneis not about a teachers classroom. Students in Kornerstone selectprojects based on interests and passion. Teachers in Kornerstone usetheir knowledge, experience, and expertise to prepare students to

http://www.kornerstoneschool.org/http://www.kornerstoneschool.org/


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meet their objectives, not the teachers. Although Kornerstone isteacher led, the students are the center of the school. Service tostudents and community is the foundation upon which Kornerstoneteachers build their professional lives.

Teachers need training in Project Based Learning, Service Learning,mobile learning, utilizing & assessing multiple intelligences, andincorporating the five Kornerstone Employability Areas into theschool's culture. Due to working with community members andbusiness leaders, teachers need to posses excellent public relationsskills. Teachers must be open to working year round. A three-monthsummer vacation does not exist at Kornerstone School. Teachers mustchair at least one subcommittee as designated by the KornerstoneGovernance Board. Leadership skills are a necessity. Teachers need tohave experience being a 'team member'. Teachers must strive towards

proficiency in all ten of the Wisconsin Standards for Teachers.b. Provide a five-year professional/curriculum development plan on how you intend

to develop the required competencies, skills and knowledge of staff (teachersand administrators) to achieve the innovations envisioned for the charter school.(The first year plan should also be included with funding allocations, in Part VI-A, Local Plan for Use of Discretionary Funds in the application form).

2010-2011 (Year 1)

The Promise: Explore various leadership models, e.g.; servantleadership, collaborative leadership, etc

o The Activity: Book studies comparing leadership styles The Action : The entire Governance Board is doing a

book study on John Carvers Boards that Make aDifference

The Promise: Begin training on PBL & SLo The Activity: KS Staff & Governance Board will attend PBL

Summer Immersion, attend Minnesota New CountrySchool, attend DCDT National Conference, attend WCSAConference, attend National Charter School Conference,establish relationship with charter consultants whospecialize in PBL, establish relationship with service

learning experts from DPI. The Action : Kornerstone School has participated in all

of the activities listed above and developedprofessional working relationships with a diversegroup of talented consultants that will aid inimplementation efforts.

The Promise: Attend Harvard University's Charter Schools:Practices for High Performance.



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o The Activity: KS Staff & at least one governance boardmember will attend a four day conference from November11th-14th.

The Action: three planning team members went toHarvard and worked very hard to develop a logic

model for Kornerstone School.o The Activity: Leadership model will be shaped.

The Action: Kornerstone School became teacher led.Teachers were immersed with all the activitiesrequired of chartered schools and decided if theywere up to the task of teaching in Kornerstone.

The Promise: Work with charter consultant to developCommunity Mentorship Program

o The Activity: Host Discovery Days, and recruitbusiness/community leaders into Kornerstone.

The Action: The event is schedule to take place in

July, approximately 3-weeks prior to the beginning ofthe school year.

The Promise: Begin training on mobile learningo The Activity: explore conferences dedicated to mobile

learning The Action : Staff and governance attended mLearn

Con, DevLearn, and T+L The Action : Kornerstone School is running its own

technology completely separate from the schooldistrict. Oversight provided by the KornerstoneSchool, Inc Governance Board.

o The Activity: explore embedded journalism to marketKornerstone

The Action : Direct mailings and traditional marketingwere actually more successful recruiting tools thanembedded journalism.

o The Activity: Kornerstone will host a 2 day in-service withJudy Brown and experts from UW-Madison's Games,Learning, & Society (GLS) department.

The Action : A Lead Teacher from Kornerstone Schoolhas developed inroads with the GLS department atUW-Madison by participating at the GLS conference.

The Promise Begin training on incorporating EmployabilityTraits into project assessments.

o The Activity: Attempt to engage in a webinar with Dr.David Brewer, a professor at Cornell University and expertin the field of creating authentic assessments for adultsthrough measuring 21st century skills.

The Action: A Lead Teacher met with Dr. DavidBrewer at the DCDT Conference and discussed the



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application of the Employability Skills into schoolculture.

The Promise: Develop professional resources & on-site libraryof educational practices/philosophies.

o The Activity: acquire literature & peer reviewed studies

The Action : A tremendous amount of phenomenalliterature has been acquired. Kornerstone Schoolsprofessional development library is stocked full ofuseful resources.

o The Activity: Create a section on Kornerstone's website forthe purpose of informing parents and connecting Kimberlyto the global community to further dialog and educationalpractices

The Action: http://www.kornerstoneschool.org

2011-2012 (Year 2)

The Promise: Further training on leadership model of choice,e.g.; servant leadership, collaborative leadership, etc

o The Activity: host a two day workshop with CascadeEducational Consultants at Kornerstone School

The Promise: Further training on PBL & SBLo The Activity: Parents, Students, KS Staff & Governance will

attend PBL Summer Immersion, attend an innovativecharter school, and attend the WCSA Conference.

The Promise: Deepen relationship with charter consultanto The Activity: Open Kornerstone for charter consultant to

freely assess educational practices, rigor of instruction, andstaff competence.

The Promise: Finalize Community Mentorship Program TrainingProtocol

o The Activity: Host Discovery Days, and recruitbusiness/community leaders into Kornerstone.

o The Activity: Invite community mentors to 'Boot Camp',conferences, and governance board meetings.

o The Activity: Initiate community mentors by leadingformalized training and laying out clear expectations forconduct.

The Promise: Continue training on mobile learning & blendedlearning

o The Activity: Explore conferences dedicated to mobilelearning

o The Activity: Participate in case study with GLS, ProjectFoundry, or another reputable institution/company.

o The Activity: Kornerstone will host a 2 day in-service withJudy Brown and experts from UW-Madison's Games,



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Learning, & Society (GLS) department.o The Activity: Students, parents, KS staff & governance

board members will participate in side-by-side training forutilizing Smartphones & tablets in the educational setting.

The Promise: Develop Kornerstone vernacular for incorporating

multiple intelligence theories into the classroomo The Activity: Continue to upload resources to Kornerstone

School website and implement Personalized LearningPlans.

The Promise: Further training on incorporating EmployabilityTraits into project assessments.

o Host a town hall meeting and invite experts in the field ofbusiness and education to analyze assessment methods

The Promise: Develop professional resources and on-site libraryof above mentioned educational practices/philosophies.

o The Activity: Acquire more literature & peer reviewed

studieso The Activity: Continue to add to section on Kornerstone's

website, informing parents and connecting Kimberly to theglobal community for the purpose of furthering educationalpractices and dialog

2012-2013 (Year 3)

The Promise Establish leadership modelo Make parents and students aware of leadership styleo Document rationale behind leadership philosophies on

Kornerstone website The Promise Continue training on PBL & SL

o Parents, students, KS Staff & Governance will attend hostSummer Immersion, attend an innovative charter school,and attend the WCSA Conference.

The Promise Continue relationship with charter consultanto Open Kornerstone for charter consultant to freely assess

educational practices, rigor of instruction, and staffcompetence

The Promise Establish Kornerstone as a presence in PBL & SLnetworks

o Collaborate with other PBL/SL schoolso Lead dialog on issues, concerns, and observations in

innovative learning environments The Promise Analyze Community Mentorship Program Training

Protocolo Host Discovery Days, and recruit business/community

leaders into Kornerstone.o Invite community mentors to 'Boot Camp', conferences,



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governance board meetingso Initiate community mentors by leading formalized training

and laying out clear expectations for conducto Provide community mentor's with a method for analyzing

training and overall impressions of Community Mentorship

Program The Promise Continue training on mobile learning

o Explore conferences dedicated to mobile learning. Arrangefor parents, students, and KS Staff to share at a mobilelearning conference

o Continue participation in case study with GLS, ProjectFoundry, or another reputable institution/company

o Kornerstone will host a two day in-service with Google orother major mobile learning device company

o Students, parents, KS staff & governance board memberswill participate in side-by-side training for utilizing 'smart

phones' in the educational setting The Promise Further training on incorporating Employability

Traits into project assessmentso Host a town hall meeting and invite experts in the field of

business and education to discuss role of 21st centuryskills

The Promise Continue development of professional resourcesand on-site library of educational practices/philosophies

o Acquire more literature & peer reviewed studieso Continue adding to Kornerstone website and connect

Kimberly to the global community for the purpose of

furthering educational practices and dialog

2013-2014 (Year 4)

The Promise Go through substantial training to prepare staff tolead senior projects

o Visit Valley New School and other PBL schools to see howthey formulate senior projects

o Meet with charter school consultant to determine how tointerweave service learning and internship experiencesinto senior projects

The Promise Implement student leadership model of choice-patterned after staff leadership

o Students and staff will attend leadership seminar The Promise Continue training on developments in PBL & SL

o Parents, Students, KS Staff & Governance will attendService Learning Summer Immersion, attend an innovativecharter school, and attend the WCSA Conference.

o Host an innovation summit with other area charter schools



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o Senior Project Fair The Promise Deepen relationship with charter consultant

o Open Kornerstone for charter consultant to freely assesseducational practices, rigor of instruction, and staffcompetence

The Promise Tweak Community Mentorship Program TrainingProtocolo Host Discovery Days, and recruit business/community

leaders into Kornerstoneo Invite community mentors to 'Boot Camp', conferences,

governance board meetingso Initiate community mentors by leading formalized training

and laying out clear expectations for conducto Provide literature to attract business leaders to become

Community Mentors The Promise Begin training on emerging technology focus area

(Guru driven) The Promise Develop Kornerstone vernacular for incorporating

multiple intelligence theories into the classroom The Promise Further training on incorporating Employability

Traits into project assessmentso Host a town hall meeting. Invite experts in the field of

business and education to analyze assessment methods The Promise Develop professional resources and on-site library

of educational practices/philosophieso Acquire more literature & peer reviewed studieso Continue to add to section on Kornerstone's website which

will inform parents and connect Kimberly to the globalcommunity in the purpose of furthering educationalpractices and dialog

The Promise Continue to innovate school day and schoolcalendar

2014-2015 (Year 5)

The Promise Spend 1 week at a school that utilizes servicelearning

The Promise Spend 8-10 days throughout the year focusing on

emerging technologies and placing new tools into the hands ofKCS students

The Promise Attend national charter school conference for 1week

The Promise Continue training on incorporating EmployabilityTraits into project assessments

o Host a summit. Invite experts in the field of business andeducation to analyze assessment methods & engage in a



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discourse surrounding 21st Century skills.o

c. Describe how the plan will include training for potential transfers or new hires insubsequent years.

30 days of getting coached upIn the fall of 2010, Michael McCabe went on a 30-day conferencecircuit. He dubbed this professional development immersion 30 days ofgetting coached up. He chronicled his trip on his personal-professionalblog and on Twitter using the hashtag #30daysofgettingcoachedup. Hestrategically targeted conferences, workshops, and immersions withconsultants in curricular and operational areas where knowledge orskill gaps existed. Kornerstone School, Incorporated is committed toinvesting $10,000 into a month long training period of for newteachers. 30 days of getting coached up is a pre-requisite for all staffmembers wishing to join Kornerstone School. New staff members must

possess the same type of commitment to learning the skills necessaryto carry out the Kornerstone School vision.

Once grant funds expire, the per pupil money annually provided by theschool district; in conjunction with, the money raised by KornerstoneSchool, Inc. shall be enough to provide training and regularprofessional development for Kornerstone School.

Beginning October 2011, all professional development provided toKornerstone School staff is also open to the Kimberly community. As apublic school, Kornerstone profits greatly from local tax dollars;therefore, the entire Kimberly community may attend Kornerstone

School staff development. It is the job of the Governance Board andthe Building Coordinator to publicize the professional developmentopportunities. It is the job of the Lead Teacher(s) to ensure awelcoming environment to community members. Learning is a life-longendeavor. By incorporating the community and non-educators intoprofessional development at Kornerstone, the school carries out thevision oflearn.createinspire and the community will act as a changeagent in this mission.

Finally, several members from the original planning team have formeda Teacher Professional Practice (TPP). The TPP is organized as a 501c3

and members of the TPP provide services unique to coachingfacilitators/advisors.

5. Plans for Opening Charter Schools in Fall 2011.

a. Provide the details for the following related to your planning and preparation foropening your charter school in the fall. Indicate types of training, coaching,consultants, trainers, and approximate amount of time each teacher in thecharter school will be spending in this type of professional development during



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the summer.

During the summer of 2011, all Kornerstone School staff is attendingtwo summer institutes for PBL. The entire Kornerstone School staff isparticipating in EdVisions Summer Institute from July 6-9 inHenderson, MN. The entire staff will also attend the Wisconsin PBL

Network Summer Institute from August 2-4. Both of these summerinstitutes provide training pertinent to carrying out the day-to-dayteaching activities in a student-directed PBL school. The summerinstitutes are intense. The institutes are a learning by doingconstructivist workshop. Attendees are placed in the advisory modeland provided with a valuable experience. Two Kornerstone School staffmembers attended EdVisions

Summer Institute in the summer of 2010. These staff members cameaway with a better understanding of the processes behind student-directed PBL and the confidence to implement the pedagogy.

All staff are attending the Project Foundry Unconference in CoonRapids, MN. The three day long immersion brings staff members up tospeed on how to use Project Foundry with students, how to createrubrics, and how to manage school information.

The week before school opens, the entire Kornerstone School staff willundergo a three-day workshop with Cascade Educational Consultants.The final two days of the workshop will be opened up to the entireKimberly community. Cascade Educational Consultants specialize inimplementing Service-Learning, assessing school climate, andinterpreting school culture. By opening up the workshop to the entirecommunity, Kimberly residents and Kornerstone parents/student willcollaborate together to create the initial school climate and schoolculture.

Please note: conferences are a minimum of 12-hours per day. Whethertraveling as an individual or in a group, conferences are a full day ofwork. This fact was overlooked during the planning year. Certainindividuals put in too much time at conferences and trainings; thus,foregoing the work, family, and rest balance that must be maintained ifthe staff and new school are going to make it through start-up. Belowis another aggressively ambitious summer professional developmentcycle. In addition to the three weeks of whole staff training, individual

staff members go to the following conferences and report back findingsto the entire group:

o Edvisions Governance Board Training June 13

o GLS implementing inquiry program June 15-17

o eLearning Guilds mLearn conference mobile learning

conference June 21-23



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o Constructing Modern Knowledge constructivist conference July

11-14

Date Type of

Training/Consultant

Kornerstone School Initiative

Addressed

Hour

6/13 EdVisions Gov. BoardTraining

GB Best Practices 8

6/15 6/17 GLS Conference Mobile Learning & InquiryImplementation

36

6/21 - 6/23 eLearning GuildsmLearncon

Mobile Learning & 1:1Implementation

36

*7/6- 7/8 EdVisions SummerInstitute

PBL process, Advisory Model,personalized learning, Teacher-Led

36

7/11 7/14 Constructing ModernKnowledge

Constructivist instructionalpractices; Personalized Learning

Network (PLN)

48

*7/26 7/28 Project FoundryUnconference

Assessment, adult as facilitator oflearning

36

*8/2 8/4 Wisconsin PBL Network PBL process, Advisory Model,personalized learning

36

*8/8 8/10 Cascade EducationalConsultants

School culture, school climate,Service-Learning, Teacher-Ledschool

36

TOTAL TOT23 Work Days 272

*Indicate whole staff is attending

b. If you have staff who are not engaged in the full training regimen, explain howthey will be receive such training and develop similar competencies as those whocompleted the full training program.

Kornerstone School shall be fully staffed for the 2011-12 school year. Inthe event that Kornerstone School ever needs to add additional staffmembers, see Section I.4.c 30 days of getting coached up.

II. Governance and Autonomy

1. Describe how the charter school will take advantage of the flexibility afforded it

under state law.

Under current Wisconsin State Statute 118.40 (prior to the proposedSentate Bill 22), limited flexibility is provided to instrumentality charterschools. Kornerstone School is exercising the maximum flexibilityprovided under the state law. Students attend school on a modifiedschedule (10 weeks on; 2 weeks off). Students have a later start time(9am), aligning with best practices associated with adolescent sleep



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cycles. Kornerstone School staff evaluates each other. This will be thefirst teacher-led instrumentality charter school in the State wherebyteachers conduct formal evaluations of each other. The charter schoolhas its own diploma. The requirements for earning the diploma are notassociated with seat time and Carnegie units; rather, students in

Kornerstone strive for master in five major employability areas and twoabstract areas. Kornerstone School does not award letter grades. Bythe third year of operation, the school will not differentiate grade levelbased on age. Students direct their own learning through PBL andService-Learning, perhaps the greatest innovation in a traditionalschool district.

Topic Statute Rationale / Comment180 Day School

YearS 121.02(1)(f)2

Year round school & provide flexibility to mPersonalized Learning Plans

Hours of Instruction S 121.02(1)(f)2 Student-directed Project Based Learning &Service Based Learning are not based on s

hours of instructionState GraduationRequirements

S 118.33(1)(a) School will accommodate for students spelearning needs

Length of SchoolDay

S 121.12(15)KCS staff in conjunction with Governance Bwill determine length of school day

2. If applicable, submit a request and justification for waivers of any federal statutoryor regulatory provisions that the applicant believes are necessary for the

successful operation of the charter school.Not Applicable

3. Local school board policies will apply to this charter school unless they are waivedby the school board. The waivers must be described in the charter contract. Pleaseidentify school board policies that will be waived for this charter school and howthe waiver(s) will support the operation of the charter school. This question doesnot apply to independent (2r) charter schools.



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Topic Policy #

Board - District Administrator Relationship 1210

Independent Study 2370.01

Human Growth & Development 2414Summer School 2440

Authorizing and Filling Positions; Employment of Prof. Staff, Selecting

Student Teachers, Employment of Casual Resource Personnel, Vacancies,

Employment of Support Staff

3111, 3120, 3120.06

3120.07, 3132, 4120

Assignment and Transfer 3130

Reduction in Staff 3131

Staff Evaluation 3220

Creating a Position 4111Assignment and Transfer 4130

Reporting of Progress 5421

Class Rank 5430

District Graduation Requirements 5460

Student Use of Electronic Devices 5512

Student Fundraising 5830

Purchasing 6320

Payment of Claims 6470

Gifts, Grants, and Bequests 7230

Community Use of School Facilities 7510

Use of Cell Phones and Other Data Devices by District Employees 7520

District Web Page 7540.02

Software Policy 7540.03

School Day 8220

Transportation 8600

Vending Machines 8540

Transportation by Private Vehicle 8660

Section 24 of The Master Contract Agreement Between KornerstoneSchool, Inc and Kimberly Area School District states, There are severaldistrict policy waivers listed in the planning grant that was submitted



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to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction in April 2009. TheKornerstone School may request additional policy waivers from theKASD board of education on an as needed basis.

All of the exemptions listed above are referenced in the chartercontract and listed in the Kornerstone School, Inc Bylaws.

4. Charter schools must have a separate governance board that is legally able tocontract with the authorizer.

a. Provide a description of the charter school governing board includingmembership names and roles of the board members, election of members andterms of office and how frequently the board meets throughout the year.

Kornerstone School Incorporated is a 501(c)3. In addition to the AnnualMeeting held in September, the board meets at least once per month.Kornerstone School, Inc meets on the second Wednesday of eachmonth. As stated on Kornerstones website: Kornerstone SchoolIncorporated is a 501(c)3. The non-profit corporation is

dedicated to preparing students for their profession of choice.If your are interested in serving on the Kornerstone SchoolGovernance Board, please download and fill out the applicationthat can be found here. The Kornerstone School GovernanceBoard has two roles: 1. Support the vision of the school and dobig picture thinking 2. Support the teachers that lead theschool. A governance board does not: 1. Micro-manage theschool 2. Control day-to-day operations 3. Fire teachers - In ateacher led school, punitive punishments are notcommonplace. Teachers work together to evaluate each otherand improve performance. To request a copy of Kornerstone

School's Bylaws, direct all correspondence to: 217 E. KimberlyAvenue, Kimberly WI, 54136, Attention: Governance Board.Current Kornerstone Governance Board Members:Marc Busko Community MemberTom Krause PresidentMichael McCabe Vice PresidentBrad Klitzke - SecretaryJim Rogers Treasurer

Section II (b) of The Bylaws of the Incorporation outline the term limitsas: Election and Term:Initial Term of Kornerstone School Governance Board Officers. The

initial term of the member of the 2011-12 Kornerstone SchoolGovernance Board shall expire on May 31, 2014 or after theirsuccessors are duly elected and qualified. Thereafter, the KornerstoneSchool Governance Board member shall member shall be elected.Each member shall serve for a period of three (3) years or until theearlier removal or resignation from the Kornerstone School GovernanceBoard, death or resignation. Governance Board member may be re-elected to serve no more than two terms in office.

http://www.kornerstoneschool.org/documents/GBApplication.pdfhttp://www.kornerstoneschool.org/documents/GBApplication.pdf


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A) - KORNERSTONE SCHOOL (Term to expire May 30, 2014):1 - parent, up to 3 - community members, up to 2 Kornerstone SchoolTeachers, 1- Guru, up to 2 KASD employees.B) Governance Board positions of President, Secretary, and Treasurer

shall be appointed no later than June 30th

, 2011C) Initial Governance Board members shall establish schoolcommittees. At least one Governance Board member will sit on eachcommittee.

(ii) Election of Kornerstone School Governance BoardMembers. Except as otherwise provided herein with respect to theterms of the initial Kornerstone School Governance Board members,each Kornerstone School Governance Board member shall hold officefor a term of three (3) years or until such Kornerstone SchoolGovernance Board members successor shall have been duly elected

or until such Kornerstone School Governance Board members death,resignation or removal. Kornerstone School Governance Boardmembers shall be elected by a majority of the ballots cast by theKornerstone School Governance Board in the Annual Meeting held onthe second Wednesday of September in May or June. The requiredquorum for conducting an election of Governance Board members atthe annual meeting is 50% of eligible voters. These Bylaws shall affectsuch result by designating a length of initial term in office for eachinitial Kornerstone School Governance Board member. Such initialterms are as follows:

Community Member 3-year term (expires May 30th

, 2014); may servetwo consecutive terms.Parent 3-year term (expires May 30th, 2014); may serve twoconsecutive terms.Guru 2-year term (expires May 30th, 2013); may serve three terms inlifetime.Lead Teacher 3-year term (expires May 30th, 2014); may not serveconsecutive terms. Lead Teachers on Governance Board need 52consecutive weeks between terms.

b. Describe the authority this governing board has to make decisions regarding the

operation of the charter school including personnel, curriculum, localassessments and policy development. Indicate if the charter board is a non-stock corporation or non-profit organization.

The Governance Board approves the annual budget proposed by theKornerstone School Lead Teacher(s). As a teacher-led school,Kornerstone School, Inc approves requests to items that have a long-term impact on the school. The Governance Board serves the teachersand students. The role of the Governance Board is similar to the role of



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a board of directors at a major company. The Board meets on thesecond Wednesday of each month. Any decisions impacting the vision,mission, or long-term school culture of Kornerstone School requiresapproval from Kornerstone School, Inc. The Board is currentlyengaging in a book study of John Carvers Boards That Make a

Difference. The Board is adopting the Carver Model of boardgovernance.

All Governance Board members are a part of the personnel committee. The personnel committee is responsible for posting, screening,interviewing, and selecting all Kornerstone School employees. TheGovernance Board follows hiring practices set forth by the KimberlyEducation Association (teachers union) and KASD. As aninstrumentality, teaching positions still need to be hired by the KASDBoard of Education. Other than teaching positions, support staff andconsultants are hired and paid by the Governance Board ofKornerstone School, Inc. This practice is the first example of a 501c3

corporation hiring staff in an instrumentality in the State of Wisconsin.

Kornerstone School Governance Board members can investigatecurriculum and provide input to the teachers at the school. As ateacher-led school, the Lead Teacher(s) at Kornerstone School decideupon the curricular initiatives. Kornerstone School is merging PBL andService-Learning. The melding of two different pedagogies was veryintentional in the design of the school. The task is difficult. It isimportant to note that governance board members must understandthe goals associated with student-directed PBL and Service-Learning.Fund raising efforts put forth by Kornerstone School, Inc. board

members have a direct effect on the curricular goals. In that regard,Kornerstone School, Inc board members have an incredible amount ofauthority on the schools curriculum. The board sets the annualbudget; thereby, establishing the resources allocated to students andstaff.

Similarly to curriculum, there is a philosophical understanding by theGovernance Board that teachers in Kornerstone School will establishthe local assessments. Several of these assessments have alreadybeen described in great detail in the Planning Grant, Master CharterAgreement, and in the Bylaws of Kornerstone School Inc. Theseassessments include: NWEAs MAPs Tests, EdVisions Hope Survey,

and the ACTs.

The bulk of the governance board responsibilities lay in three mainareas. The areas are policy development, fundraising, andsustainability of long-term initiatives. During the planning year, theboard has been integral in establishing such innovative policies as ayearlong modified schedule, a teacher-led school, a 1:1 student todevice initiative, and a daily program known as Inquiry. The only way



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Kornerstone School outlives the tenure of the founder is to have astrong governance board to carry on the vision. The Governance Boardmust be the vision keepers of the mission and constantly remainstudent centered. One of the major duties of the governance board isensure that all parties associated with the charter school are bus

hittable1

Kornerstone School Incorporated formulates school policiesthat ensure the sustainability of a school that hasnt even yet openedits doors. It should be noted that before students have even attendedKornerstone School, the Governance Board has already haddiscussions about having a succession plan for the founder and initialteachers (some of which havent even been hired). The GovernanceBoard has already had several in depth discussions about the long-term costs associated with small class sizes and a 1:1 student todevice initiative.

An example of the weaving of vision and policy is demonstrated in theGovernance Boards approach to determining the most useful devices

for students. One member of the board, a teacher in the school, isadvocating for every student to have a Smartphone; thereby, ensuring100% connectivity. The phone is provided by the school and suppliedwith unlimited data. Parents would be able to turn on the text/talk planthrough the provider. A community member who serves on the Boardfelt that a tablet such as an iPad would be a better alternative for eachstudent. Another member of the board thinks a laptop is the idealdevice. These members are traveling to the national mobile learningconference to come together and make an informed decision. Thisconference is put on by the eLearning Guild. The Board is going to asource outside of the traditional learning sphere to gain guidance. Bygoing to a conference of people providing mobile learning content, thegroup hopes to get straight answers. All of this is done aftermembersof the Board have elicited feedback from parents and students. InDecember 2009, a community forum was held regarding the types ofdevices parents would be open to having at Kornerstone School. FromSeptember 2010 April 2011, another half dozen community sessionswere held to talk with students and parents and see what tools theywanted to learn with.

As a byproduct of traveling the country and seeing innovative learningenvironments, and fruitful discussions with community members,

Kornerstone School determined a BYOD Policy (Bring Your OwnDevice). Students can bring any type of learning device into school;they can pull a wifi signal and connect to the Internet (occasionallyneeding minimal open source software). Other policies spawned fromthe tremendous dialog. One Board member who was previouslyemployed by Kimberly Area School District gained employment in a

1 Keith Burnam, KIPP Charlotte, [email protected], Harvard Graduate School of Education,

Charter School Institute, Thursday, November 11, 2010.

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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different school district. At his new district, they open up the wifi signalto the parking lot of the high school and leave it on until Midnight.Students park their cars at the school lot to leverage the Internet.Having a supportive Governance Board allows creation of malleablepolices to unfold. Kornerstone School adopts what works. The students

will have wifi access within several hundred feet of the school, and theaccess will be open after school hours. Thereby, fulfilling thephilosophies associated with the Community Learning Centermovement. The doors of the school will be open to the communitybefore 9am and after 4pm- the building is a school during the day, butremains an active learning center after school hours. The GovernanceBoard is solely responsible for carrying out this mission, allowing theteachers to focus on the day-to-day consumptive duties of running aschool and lighting students on fire with passion.

c. Describe how the governance board of the charter school has control over thecharter schools budget and expenditures.

Kornerstone School Incorporated receives the same amount of perpupil dollars as other high schools in the Kimberly Area School District.For the 2011-12 school year, Kornerstone School is allocatedapproximately $278.86 per student (totaling $12,548.70). Per MasterCharter Agreement, Kornerstone School Incorporated also receives allof the summer school money for students at Kornerstone School. PerMaster Contract Agreement, the Board determines the allocation ofcharter school grant funds awarded by DPI. KASD covers all of thebuilding and teaching salary expenses. Expenditures using KASD funds

still need to go through the districts standard ordering protocol.As a non-profit organization, Kornerstone School, Inc has control overall funds raised, grants awarded, and donations received.

d. Include a description of the administrative relationship between the charterschool and the authorizer and describe how the charter school will be managed.

Kornerstone School is teacher led. Administrative duties are dividedamong each teacher. This grant has made several different referencesto Lead Teacher, advisor, and teacher- these title are synonymous inKornerstone School. One of the Lead Teachers will have as theirspecific duties to communicate with the Authorizer. Therefore, any

correspondences from the Governance Board to the Authorizer such asAnnual Reports are reported to the Authorizer from a specific LeadTeacher. The individual associated with reporting to the Authorizer ischosen from peers. The same type of relationship exists with LeadTeachers in Kornerstone School and Directors of Kimberly Area SchoolDistrict. Each Lead Teacher in Kornerstone School communicates withspecified Directors (Technology Director, Special Education Director,Buildings and Grounds Director, Business Manager, and Assistant



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Superintendent). Duties are democratically divided up among Lead Teachers by Lead Teachers. The Assistant Superintendant doesoversee the evaluation and professional development processesestablished by KASD.

e. If the charter school shares a principal with a traditional school, indicate how the

management of the charter school will be impacted?

Not Applicable

f. Describe the training that will be provided to the charter board and when it will bedelivered, e.g., governing authority, Roberts Rules, by-laws, finances/budgets,fund raising, parent involvement, policies/procedures, etc.

EdVisions Incorporated is providing training to Kornerstone SchoolsGovernance Board throughout the summer. The entire Board ismeeting for training on June 13, 2011. Multiple members of the Boardattend Wisconsin Charter School Associations Annual Conference eachyear. Cascade Educational Consultants are facilitating a two-day

school culture and Service-Learning workshop for Kornerstone Schoolstaff and Governance Board in October of 2011. Cascade EducationalConsultants will return for a two-day leadership workshop in April2012.

The entire governance board is undergoing a yearlong book study of John Carvers Boards That Make a Difference. Kornerstone School,Incorporated has adopted the Policy Governance model. The boardwill continue to implement this model throughout the 2011-12 schoolyear.

During January and February of 2011, the Board thoroughly

investigated the Bylaws that were drafted. The Bylaws for KornerstoneSchool, Inc were passed on March 9, 2011. The Bylaws establish aprotocol for creating and eliminating committees that report to theGovernance Board. Seven of these committees were created:Fundraising, Finance, Events, Marketing, Student Congress, Personnel,and The Committee for Professional Development, Innovation,Sustainability, & Remaining True to Mission. Per Bylaws, a governanceboard member chairs each committee. The expectation is for eachcommittee chair to seek out training opportunities in order to improvetheir specific skills set and knowledge needed to fulfill the duties of thecommittee.

5. Describe how parents and community members are involved in the implementationof the charter school.

Parents have been involved with Kornerstone School since thebeginning of the planning process and they will continue to be activelyengaged in the implementation stage. Kornerstone School,Incorporated has a parent serving on the governance board. Severalparents will also serve on the various committees. Parents are going tohelp establish the Community Mentorship Program and they are an



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integral focal point in the fund raising efforts. Parents provide a steadyfeedback loop to the staff and Governance Board. Parent ideas areimplemented into the school. The only way to get through theimplementation year is by having parents bought into the Kornerstonevision. Just by enrolling their children into a school that has yet to

open, parents are showing their involvement in the early stages of theschool. As previously stated, nearly a dozen open houses andcommunity forums have been held over the past year and a half. Manyparents attended several of these meetings. Michael McCabe hasalready had individual meetings with almost every single family thathas enrolled their children into Kornerstone School.

A parent has been serving on the Kornerstone School, Inc GovernanceBoard since January. Several parents have volunteered their time andtalents to ensure Kornerstone School becomes a reality. Parents areinvolved in approving every single project before the advisor. Parentsare co-creators in their childs Personalized Learning Plan.

Community members are a vital organ to the Kornerstone body.Removing the Fox Valley community from the school will weaken theoverall school culture and diminish student achievement. KornerstoneSchool has two initiatives during the 2011-12 school year that bring incommunity members to the school. The first initiative involves theschool hosting a film series. The movie theaters in the Fox Valley dontshop documentaries. Kornerstone School is going to have adocumentary premiere every 4-6 weeks during the 2011-12 schoolyear. Admission is by donation only. The first five films have alreadybeen selected. On June 28th, 2011, Kornerstone School is having a

cookout. TED Talks of Sir Ken Robinson, Daniel Pink, and MalcolmGladwell are going on in the Community Room. Waiting for Supermanwill be shown following the TED Talks. This will be the 1st time the filmhas been shown to the public in the Fox Valley. Other movies to beshown throughout the year include The Cartel, The Lottery, Race toNowhere, Lucky, Inside Job, and In Search of Memory.

The second initiative involves inviting the community into the schoolfor professional development. This is of the utmost importance. One ofour first professional development sessions planned focuses on schoolculture. By opening up this workshop to parents and communitymembers, we are leveraging the support of people who finance our

school. This type of community involvement is what sets KornerstoneSchool apart from many other charters in start-up. Kornerstone Schoolis using $1,000 to advertise both of these initiatives. Once word ofmouth travels, we hope to have the Kimberly community eventuallyco-facilitate the professional development, workshops, and trainings.

The Community Mentorship Program has already leveraged thesupport of parents and community members. Several people have



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already stepped forward to be mentors for the students. For moreinformation on the Community Mentorship Program please seehttp://www.kornerstoneschool.org/servicelearning.php.

6. Return up to three letters of support from parents and community members.

See Attached LettersAttach two (2) copies of the charter school contract now in effect if it has been amended since itwas submitted to the DPI as part of the planning grant.

III. Equal Access (Admissions and Lottery)

1. Provide a description of how your school assures equal access for all studentsregardless of gender, race, national origin, color, disability or age factors.

Kornerstone School is a tuition free public school in the Kimberly AreaSchool District. The Kornerstone School Governance Board andKimberly Area School District Board of Education will collaborativelydevelop a recruitment plan consistent with the goal of achieving equalaccess for all students in grades 8-12, regardless of gender, race,

national origin, color, or disability. All students in grades 8-12 in theKimberly Area School District are eligible to attend Kornerstone School.All students and their families will be notified of the charter schoolapplication process and timeline through the district newsletter that ismailed monthly, through the Kornerstone School website, and throughmailings when funding permits.

2. Provide a description of how your school will serve students withdisabilities.

Kornerstone School is open to all students. If the person attending KSis a student with a disability, she or he will receive their appropriateservices identified in their Individualized Education Plan (IEP). Beforebeginning the first day of classes at KS, a student with disabilities willhave an IEP meeting in which the IEP team will discuss and determinethe appropriateness of placement and services in KS. The IEP team willidentify the supports needed to ensure student success. Every effortwill be made to involve the following participants at the IEP meetingpreceding the students entrance into KS: Student, parent, specialeducator and regular education teacher from JR Gerritts Middle Schoolor Kimberly High School, KS staff member, KS Governance Boardmember. All students with disabilities will undergo the sameapplication and admission process as other students. As permitted by

state and federal laws, special education services taking place inKornerstone School will be charged to federal or state governmentalagencies.

By Year 3 (10th grade) every effort will be made to have the studentwith disabilities complete the majority of their Annual IEP. The studentwith disabilities is in charge of advocating for their transition services(I-8), and completing the Present Level of Academic Achievement and

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Functional Performance (I-4). By Year 4 (11th grade), the student withdisabilities sets up their Annual IEP meeting and completes the formalinvitations (I-1, I-1T, I-3, EE-1, & P-2). By Year 5 (12th Grade), thestudent with disabilities completes their entire IEP. A KornerstoneSchool staff member or KASD Special Education teacher assists with

the completion of the IEP as a part of a project. During Year 4 & Year 5,the Annual IEP meeting will coincide with the students PLP creationmeeting. This practice ensures inclusionary principles and allowsstudents with disabilities to be a part of a common planning time astheir regular education peers. Innovation in the IndividualizedEducation Plan could lead to creating an inclusive community. Basedon the demographics of other PBL schools in the Fox Valley (ValleyNew School), Kornerstone School is anticipating at least 20% of thestudent body will be made up of students with disabilities.

3. Provide a description of how students in the community are informed about thecharter school and given an equal opportunity to attend.

Prior to January 1 of each year, all parents of 7 th & 8th graders in theKASD receive literature regarding Kornerstone. Kornerstonerepresentatives hold information sessions at least three times per year.

Informational meetings for parents and their children are held Octoberthrough April. In addition, school counselors provide information onKornerstone to students and their parents as applicable. JR GerrittsMiddle School, Kimberly High School, and the Administration Buildingall have applications for Kornerstone. No student is denied an

opportunity to complete an application. When fair and appropriate,Kornerstone School staff will assist students in completion of theirapplication.

4. Provide the admissions policy for the school. If applicable, describe any minimumqualifications for admission and how these qualifications are: (a) consistent withthe statutory purposes of the federal charter school program; (b) reasonablynecessary to achieve the educational mission of the charter school; and (c)consistent with civil rights laws and Part B of the Individuals with DisabilitiesEducation Act. (For more information, see question C-10 under in the USDE non-regulatory guidance found at:"http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/cspguidance03.pdf" http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/cspguidance03.pdf)

5. Provide a description of a random lottery process to be implemented if morestudents apply for admission than can be accommodated in the charter school.

Kornerstone School has an enrollment of 45-50 students in grades 8,9,and 10 for the 2011-2012 school year. In successive years theenrollment period will be from January 1 - June 1.

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In year 2 (2012-2013), Kornerstone School will expand its enrollment to60 students and serve students in grades 8-11. In year 3 (2013-2014),Kornerstone School will expand its enrollment by an additional 15students and reach capacity with 75 students in grades 8-12. Inconjunction with the Authorizer, the Kornerstone School governance

board determines if the grade level or enrollment numbers requirealterations. Kornerstone School Governance Board may adjustenrollment slots per grade level as necessary.

If the number of prospective student applicants exceeds the number ofavailable enrollment slots, an annual lottery ensues. The annual lotteryis held on the Tuesday preceding May 30 (if May 30 is a Tuesday, thelottery will be held on May 23). Completed applications must be turnedin 72 hours before the lottery. Applicants exempt from the lotteryprocess include siblings of Kornerstone School students and children ofKornerstone School teachers (provided the number of children doesnot exceed 5% of the total school enrollment). Exempt applicants are

granted 'prospective student' status and fill available enrollment slots.The lottery is open to the public and facilitated by a KornerstoneSchool staff member and governance board member. Names ofapplicants are blindly selected at random by a human. After all of theavailable enrollment slots are filled, random selection proceeds until allnames are selected to fill the waiting list. Parents and students receivenotification of the results within 72 hours of lottery completion. Uponparental notification, students are officially 'prospective students' inKornerstone School.

Beginning in 2012-13, before gaining enrollment into KornerstoneSchool, all prospective students must complete an interest andaptitude assessment (located on the Kornerstone website andavailable at Kornerstone School). The assessment provides adescription to Kornerstone School staff regarding the studentspassions. The assessment also measures a students coachability. Inorder for a student to experience success in a project/service basedlearning environment, they will have to be self reflective, able tohandle critical analysis, and be a team player. The student and aparent complete the assessment. Before successful enrollment intoKornerstone School, the student and parent sit down with Kornersto

Documents

Kornerstone Implementation I FINAL