With the opening of its fifth new-and-improved location since it launched with a state grant in 2018, Green Bay’s N.E.W. School of Innovation is making serious strides to break down barriers to both educational attainment and talent attraction, Principal Jason Johnson tells co-hosts Ann Franz of the NEW Manufacturing Alliance and Kate Bruns of Insight on this week’s episode of the NEW Manufacturing Insights podcast, sponsored by Stoke RGA.
Johnson is joined by Northeast Wisconsin Technical College Provost Jennifer Flatt on this week’s back-to-school episode. The duo was recently on hand in Green Bay for an open house showcasing the new space housing the GBAPS charter school program, on the campus of NWTC.
The N.E.W. School serves Green Bay Area Public School District students in grades 6-12 with proficiency based learning and career exploration. Its new space was made possible through a voter-approved 2024 referendum. Johnson tells the co-hosts the new space offers improved security and lighting, dedicated outdoor space for exploratory learning, new science labs and maker space.
“We’ve now outgrown four spaces, so we continue to increase enrollment,” Johnson says. “[A lot of it is] word of mouth. It’s the success they’re having in this beautiful space, but also the opportunity it provides that makes them want to be a part of this.”
Flatt says the program has helped students who didn’t even expect to graduate from high school attain careers and even college degrees.
“What I love is that I can see the confidence building with students,” Flatt says, adding that more than half of N.E.W. School of Innovation students complete college coursework while enrolled.
Learn more about the impact the N.E.W. School of Innovation is making on the Green Bay community and on high-demand careers like manufacturing by listening to the full episode on Apple, Spotify or any audio podcast platform. As always, our guests close the episode by sharing what each considers their best leadership insight.
NEW Manufacturing Insights is a joint project of Insight and the NEW Manufacturing Alliance, produced by Woodward Community Media. New episodes are released weekly.
