About Us

Learn about our program, its history, and
meet the stellar team behind it all!
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A group of students

Writings & Awards

Articles about Avalon

Avalon School Profile, Pioneering Magazine

This is How You Empower Educators to Transform Education, Education ReImagined

What It's Like to Take Ownership of Your Own Learning, Center for Teaching Quality

And the Teachers Shall Lead, Teach to Lead, US Department of Education

The Original Charter School Vision, New York Times

To Improve Schools, Let Teachers Run Them, Washington Post

The Evolution of the Chartered School, EdWeek

The Teacher-Powered Schools Movement, Forbes

Lessons from the Innovators: Discussion Starters for Creating a Teacher-Powered School

What happens when Teachers run the School?, Hechinger Report

Books about Avalon

Deeper Learning: How Eight Innovative Public Schools Are Transforming Education in the Twenty-First Century by Monica Martinez, Dennis McGrath  

A Smarter Charter: Finding What Works for Charter Schools and Public Education by Richard Kahlenberg, Halley Potter

Trusting Teachers with School Success: What Happens When Teachers Call the Shots by Kim Farris-Berg, Edward Dirkswager

Deeper Learning, Deeper Leading by Walter Enloe

Academic Research

Cultivating life skills at a project-based charter school; Scott Wurdinger, Walter Enloe - Improving Schools

Measuring life skills, hope, and academic growth at project-based learning schools; Ron Newell, En Sun Kim - Improving Schools

Can Teachers Run Their Own Schools? Charles Kerchner, Claremont University

Where I Bloomed: Exploring Teacher Professional Vitality in the Teacher-Powered School; Sara Kemper, University of Minnesota

Avalon's Awards

Minnesota Association of Charter Schools' Innovation Award

2017 - New and Innovative Methods for Measuring Student Outcomes - Project Rubric

2019 -  Increase Learning Opportunities for Students - Senior Project

Outstanding Educator Awards

Four Avalon Advisors have won Outstanding Educator Awards for Ethics in Education.  Carrie Bakken, Tim Quealy, Gretchen Sage-Martinson, and Nora Whalen have been recognized as either state-wide or regional winners.

National Promising Practice Awards

from Character Education Partnership

2009 - MN Award for our Student Governance Model

2012 - MN and National Award for Project Based Learning within an Advisory System

2013 - MN and National Award for ReadBrave Bookclub

2014 - MN and National Award for the Feminism Club

2016 - MN and National Award for New Student Orientation

2019  - MN Award for Roundatble Discussion around Race, a partnership with Macalester College.

Extraordinary Achievement Award

from Education Evolving (2017)

Videos & Films about Avalon

A Tale of Two Charters, EdWeek

A Cure for the Common Classroom - a feature-length documentary.