Summer Conference 2026
Tuesday, June 16th Concurrent Sessions
10:30 – 11:20 am & 11:30 am – 12:20 pm
Finding Our Way
Amanda Daeger, Assistant Principal, North Branch Area High School
Clint Link, High School Principal, North Branch Area High School
Jacob Truby, Assistant Principal, North Branch Area High School
Lessons this team has learned building capacity in staff for Tier 1 interventions and systems to support for Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions for students in High School.
Husky PD: Building a Personalized Professional Development Plan for Everyone
Tim Feine, Andover High School Principal, Andover High School
Tina Tamura, Assistant Principal, Andover High School
Stop struggling to balance individual staff needs with limited time. Discover how Andover High School influenced teacher growth by building a flexible, personalized PD plan for every employee. This ongoing, coaching-centered model boasts nearly 100% teacher engagement. Learn how they worked with staff to develop instructional goals, create a plan, and provided coaching to support implementation. Empower your educators and simplify your leadership.
Interventions That Work: Leveraging Capti ReadBasix for Literacy Gains
Peggy Reynolds, Principal, Marshall Middle School
Bennett Appel, Assistant Principal, Marshall Middle School
Beth Ritter, Director of Teaching and Learning, Marshall Public Schools
Sara Welch, Instructional Coach, Marshall Middle School
Marshall Middle School improved reading outcomes by identifying literacy gaps in grades 5-8 using Capti ReadBasix data. The assessment highlighted significant needs in word recognition and decoding. A data-driven shift to a daily 30-minute FLEX period enabled targeted interventions and reduced the number of students requiring support from 50% to 18%. The team will share implementation strategies and invite participants to bring schedules to explore adding a dedicated intervention block.
Program Alignment for Every School: Practical Strategies that Work
Scott Gengler, Principal, Wayzata High School
Whether your school system is big or small, rural, urban or suburban, public or private, effective program alignment is essential to student success. This session will explore practical strategies to align systems through shared leadership, consistent practices, and common-sense decision-making. Participants will gain insight into building coherence across programs, strengthening collaboration, and creating a unified experience for students and staff, regardless of setting, while maintaining the unique strengths of their individual schools.
Right Place, Right Time: It’s The Little Things
Ryan Johnson, Assistant Principal, Rogers High School
Jill Engquist, Assistant Principal, Rogers High School
Josh Stephan, Assistant Principal, Rogers High School
Karlee Anderson, Administrative Intern, Rogers High School
Right Place, Right Time: It’s the Little Things focuses on how consistent daily habits drive academic and social-emotional success. This session highlights our practical frameworks for tracking, early intervention, and progressive discipline. We emphasize high-frequency communication and relationship-building as the foundation for student growth. Learn how to implement simple, scalable strategies that turn minor adjustments into significant, long-term improvements in student outcomes and school culture.
RISE To High Standards with High Support: Building Coherent Systems That Help Every Student Thrive
Spencer Stowers, Principal, Horizon East Middle School
Cory Holten, Assistant Principal/Activities Director, Horizon East Middle School
“RISE to High Standards with High Support: Building Coherent Systems That Help Every Student Thrive,” will focus on how Horizon East Middle School intentionally aligned existing systems such as MTSS (i.e. BARR & PLC), to RISE (eligibility) and cocurricular programming to create a schoolwide framework centered on high expectations, accountability, intervention, and belonging.
The session will include practical implementation strategies, examples of intervention systems, lessons learned through implementation, and actionable ideas schools can adapt within their own settings to strengthen student engagement and academic success.
Stop Debating, Start Deciding: Using Data Rules to Assign Interventions and Surface and Solve Capacity Constraints
Tom Brenner, CMS Principal and School Improvement Coordinator, Cloquet Middle School
Tom Lenarz, Vice Principal, Cloquet Middle School
Nicole Vegar, School Improvement Coordinator, Cloquet Middle School
Many teams use data but struggle with inconsistent, time-consuming intervention decisions. This session shows how data-based decision rules improve clarity, alignment, and effectiveness across Tier 1, 2, and 3. Participants will explore how to design schedules that protect and balance core instruction and intervention time, implement creative and flexible structures—while using data to understand the magnitude of student needs and strategically use staff, time, and resources to meet them.
1:30 – 2:20 pm & 2:30 – 3:20 pm
FMS Morning Meeting and Kindness Challenge
Josh Watne, Principal, Franklin Middle School
Franklin Middle School’s weekly Morning Meeting creates a consistent, positive start to each school week through student recognition, social-emotional learning, and schoolwide culture building. Led by the principal, this 20 minute gathering celebrates students and staff who “Own It” through leadership and kindness, highlights the FMS House of Uncommon initiative, and reinforces SEL skills through the art of storytelling. Meetings conclude with a schoolwide kindness challenge, encouraging students to make an impact on their school and the wider community.
It’s All About the ABC’s – Attendance, Behavior & Credits!
Stacy Olstadt, Assistant Principal, Robbinsdale Armstrong High School
Caroline Doenberg, Social Worker, Robbinsdale Armstrong High School
Arianna Crosby, Counselor, Robbinsdale Armstrong High School
Courtney Smith, Student Dean, Robbinsdale Armstrong High School
This session will share how Robbinsdale Armstrong High School decreased their chronic absenteeism rates by proactively focusing on the ABCs for 9th grade while redesigning the media center into a College and Career focused space that is preparing our Falcons Futures.
Launch Your Future: College and Career Prep
Paul Menard, Principal, Rockford High School
Jill Gordee, Assistant Principal, Rockford High School
Aligning multiple program requirements can create difficulty in scheduling, staffing and simple explanations to families. Come learn how with a clear vision of getting all students employment ready, we’ve used the MDE career clusters to frame all elective offerings and satisfy IBCP, AVID and local district demands.
Leading Through the Fog: Advocacy, Strategy, and Integrity for Principals
Dr. Stephanie Kuehn, High School Principal, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted Schools
Bob Dockendorf, High School Principal, Big Lake Schools
This presentation will focus on support for principals and awareness that you are not alone, it’s ok to not be ok. The session will focus around building solutions, what’s working, what isn’t and solutions for change. The session will include a personalized component where attendees will walk away with a team and self process plan as well as a focus on leadership and mental health.
Leading Where You Live: Navigating Visibility, Trust and Boundaries as a Community-Embedded Principal
Dr. Joseph Held, Associate Principal, White Bear Lake Area High School
You are a principal, but you are also a neighbor, a parent, and a visible member of the community you serve. What happens when you’re never fully “off?” This session presents findings from a qualitative study of Minnesota high school principals who live in their school communities, examining how visibility, trust, identity, and boundaries shift when leadership becomes personal. Participants will engage with research-based insights and a practical framework to navigate the complexities of community-embedded leadership with greater clarity, intention, and sustainability.
Original Me: Student-Led, Staff-Guided Clubs That Strengthen School Culture
Nicole McNulty, Co-Founder, Original Me & President, Michael’s Light & Kindness Co.
EJ McNulty, Co-Founder, Original Me & EVP, Barkley OKRP
Original Me equips middle school students to build identity, belonging, and kindness through free clubs guided by staff advisors, with students leading meaningful activities and service projects. In a time of rising loneliness, anxiety, and disconnection, Original Me helps students discover their value while creating positive school culture. This session will share a scalable, turnkey model principals can implement to strengthen engagement, leadership, and peer connection through kindness, mentorship, and service.
PSEO and Concurrent Enrollment – Challenges and Solutions
Aaron Nelson, Principal, Pequot Lakes High School
Eric Nelson, Principal, Chatfield High School
Is your school or district experiencing the challenge of providing students with College Credit opportunities through Concurrent Enrollment (College in the School) or have you had an increase in demand for PSEO from your students? Come learn about the complex landscape of College Credit options and some solutions being offered to deliver these options to students in your school.
STRIVE – A Mentorship Program with a Transition Focus for Middle School Students
Jim Gillach, Associate Principal, Chisago Lakes Middle School
The STRIVE (Students Taking Renewed Interest in the Value of Education) has been developed originally in Minnesota and was designed as a mentorship program for seniors in high school. We have taken this model and adapted it for our 8th graders completing middle school and transitioning to high school. Come join us and find out more about this wonderful mentoring program that builds relationships between community leaders and our students.
Wednesday, June 17th Concurrent Sessions
10:30 – 11:20 am & 11:30 am – 12:20 pm
Big & Small, Rural & Suburban: Building Assets That Work Everywhere
Dr. Peter Zak, Assistant Principal, Eagan High School
Chad Gilbertson, Pre-K – 12th Grade Principal, Underwood High School
Dick Ungar, BARR Director of Engagement, BARR
Schools across Minnesota are redefining how they approach the individual development of every student through the powerful combination of data and relationships. In this session, hear firsthand from two principals who are making these changes in vastly different environments: Eagan High School (large) and Underwood High School (small). They’ll share practical insights on using data to enhance professional learning communities, team formation, master scheduling, and implementation strategies that translate across diverse school populations.
Dare To Be Real: Unlocking Your True Identity as a School Leader
Dr. Patrick Duffy, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, University of MN and Becoming Leadership Group
Dr. Emily Palmer, Principal, Hopkins High School and Becoming Leadership Group
Freida Bailey, Becoming Leadership Group
Our session will focus on guiding leaders through a series of interactive conversations that will enable them to understand how they have developed their leadership identity. Through concentric circles and step-ins, participants will journey through who they have been (understanding their lived history and cultural identity), who they are (reflecting on current events, leadership voices, and team dynamics), and who they what to be (imagining liberatory futures for themselves, their teams, their students, and their communities rooted in purpose and collective action). Participants will leave both inspired and with an applicable framework they can use with their own teams when they return back to school.
From Testing To Tasting: How Exploratory Days Redefine the Post-MCA Slump
Michaela Rekucki, Principal, Roosevelt Middle School
David Schreiner, Assistant Principal, Roosevelt Middle School
Kristen Spark, Assistant Principal, Roosevelt Middle School
Cullum Buetow-Staples, Assistant Principal, Roosevelt Middle School
Standardized testing, and the stress that comes with it, has a way of driving students to call in sick or opt-out. We as a team at Roosevelt Middle School sought to attack this problem. Hear about how we developed an exploratory day for 1100 students that not only got students in the door, but gave them a chance to take the lead on their own learning.
Fueling Futures Through Partnerships
Michael Mangan, Director Ed Success, Houston Public Schools
Jodi Fanth, Principal, Barnum High School, CNA Partnership
Clint Link, Principal, North Branch High School
Schools often face challenges in providing a broad range of career-focused electives due to staffing shortages, scheduling constraints, and limited budgets. This session highlights how innovative partnerships and creative funding models are helping overcome those barriers and expanding student opportunities across Minnesota. Learn how Houston Public Schools / Minnesota Virtual Academy is partnering with MN public high schools and long-term care facilities to provide high school students with the opportunity to earn their Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Certification while still in school.
Attendees will hear how collaborative funding partnerships, shared staffing models, Minnesota Department of Education CTE-approved program support, and Perkins resources reduce costs for individual districts and make these programs sustainable. The session will also highlight how these same strategies support additional career pathways, including Heavy Equipment Operator training in partnership with Operating Engineers Local 49 and other high-demand workforce programs through innovative funding that includes legislative support, industry resources and financial contributions, and grant opportunities. Participants will explore how schools across Minnesota are leveraging flexible part-time online partnerships with Minnesota Virtual Academy to offer courses such as CDL Prep, CNA, Pharmacy Tech, Emergency Medical Responder, Athletic Officiating, Work-Based Learning, and more. This session is ideal for school leaders seeking practical, scalable strategies to expand career pathways and prepare students for successful futures.
How To Build Gems and GPTs That Save You Hours
William Grube, Founder, Gruvy Education
Learn how to build Gems and GPTs that handle the specific work you repeat all year. Build one that writes teacher observations in your voice. Build one that breaks down standards for your team. Build one that answers questions against your student handbook. You leave with the skill to spin up a dedicated assistant for any task on your plate.
Putting The Joy Back Into Teachers Observations with AI Driven Observation
Chad Brusky, High School Principal, Fairmont Area Schools
Fairmont Area Schools redesigned teacher observation using Kim Marshall’s Rethinking Teacher Supervision and Evaluation. Principals developed a coaching-focused model aligned to the district’s Effective Teaching Framework, supported by an AI-driven feedback system. The approach streamlines documentation, reduces costs, and doubles classroom visits while maintaining high-quality feedback. This adaptable model requires no specialized software and works for schools of any size.
The Power of Collaborative Protocols and Feedback Loops
Rachel Sandquist, Assistant Principal, Monticello Middle School
David Ruehs, Assistant Principal, Tri-City United High School
Join this session to explore how to maximize PLC time through effective protocols that generate actionable feedback. Learn how a focus on Authentic Intellectual Work has supported improved instruction and driven collective success. Presenters will share practical protocols used regularly, along with data demonstrating their impact on instructional practices and school improvement. This session is designed for both middle and high school leaders seeking efficient, results-driven PLC structures.
Unified Programming at Your Secondary Site
Kate Egerman, Assistant Principal, Prior Lake High School
This presentation will highlight how to implement, sustain and grow your unified program through both the curricular and extra-curricular lens.
1 + 1 = 11 – Unlocking the Power of Partnership Between Administrators and Student Leaders
Trisha Bemboom, Director of Student Activities, MASSP
What happens when administrators and student leaders intentionally work together? Schools become stronger, more connected communities. This workshop explores how school leaders can empower student voice to help shape culture, build belonging, increase engagement, and create meaningful experiences for their school community. Participants will walk away with practical ideas and real examples of how authentic partnerships with student leaders can transform school climate and create impact far greater than either group could accomplish alone.
Special thank you to the Southeast Division for hosting the 2026 Summer Conference.
MASSP is proud to partner with…
