Student choice and accountability are more than ideas at Wildlands; they are at the heartbeat of who we are and what makes us different from a traditional school. From their first day, until their graduation day, Wildlands students are encouraged and empowered to study disciplines and areas of inquiry that they identify as interesting. While we absolutely meet the core content areas necessary for graduating and moving on to the next phase of your life, Wildlands allows you to hold the wheel on your own education. This level of student autonomy sets us apart from most traditional schools.

Wildlands Charter School is one of the few teacher-led schools in the country. Wildlands is a project-based learning school with a research and science focus. Our staff is a functional teachers’ cooperative; our teachers run the school. This includes handling the administrative needs of the school, transportation, and all school operations.

Our teachers have far greater creative autonomy than in most schools. This is important because it creates personal ownership; we are responsible for creating a science school in which families want to enroll. Though this model of school organization is not readily apparent to most visitors, it is fundamental to our Wisconsin charter school.