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Kaleidoscope Academy and Appleton Public Montessori present five‑year renewal reports to board
Summary
Two charter schools described academic results, enrollment trends and recruitment efforts; both will return in two weeks with contract recommendations for board action.
Two Appleton charter schools — Kaleidoscope Academy and Appleton Public Montessori — presented five‑year renewal summaries Monday, highlighting student outcomes, instructional approaches and enrollment trends as the district finalizes renewal recommendations.
Kaleidoscope Principal Alex Malder summarized his program’s project‑based, arts‑integrated model for grades 6–8 and highlighted recent academic gains. “We promote student academic, social, and emotional growth,” Malder said, and he noted Kaleidoscope’s emphasis on teaming, individualized learning and fine‑arts options that the school says help raise achievement for students with disabilities, economically disadvantaged students and English learners.
Malder told the board that Kaleidoscope’s state report‑card ranking rose last year and that the school has a relatively high share of students with disabilities and other historically underserved subgroups while showing measurable gains for those groups. He also said enrollment has declined in recent years — in part because Columbus is closing — and the school is increasing recruitment and marketing efforts.
Appleton Public Montessori (APM) representatives described the school’s multiage, Montessori classroom model and said the school uses hands‑on, multisensory approaches to instruction. Courtney Moy, APM’s parent‑board president, read the school’s mission and said the school is committed to Montessori fidelity even as the district integrates new state guidance on literacy. “Appleton Public Montessori seeks to nurture the full potential of every child through the presence of the Montessori philosophy in all learning environments,” Moy said.
APM staff described steps taken to align Montessori practices with structured‑literacy expectations after Act 20 and noted a district grant that supported coaching. APM also described a recent state recognition: a promising‑practice designation from the Wisconsin Character Education Partnership for the school’s first‑through‑third‑grade virtues reflection practice.
Both schools said they will return to the board in two weeks with any outstanding clarifications and a recommendation for a five‑year contract renewal. Board members asked for additional enrollment‑outreach detail and requested clearer written summaries of recruitment and diversity efforts in the renewal packet.
Ending: District staff said they will collect the schools’ final edits and return to the board with a formal recommendation at the next meeting.
