School leaders at Wauwatosa STEM, a charter elementary school that shares space with Wilson Elementary School, have announced that the STEM program will continue next year as an independent charter school, after the Wauwatosa School District chose last year not to renew its contract with the school.
Wauwatosa STEM, which stands for science, technology, engineering and math, said in a news release that the University of Wisconsin-Parkside in Kenosha had agreed to sign on as the STEM school’s authorizer, allowing it to operate as an independent charter school once its nearly 20-year affiliation with the Wauwatosa School District ends this June.
“We’re thrilled,” Libby Woodard, the school’s governance board president, told Tosa Forward News in an interview this week. “The school has been so successful and so great for the community and a great alternative to just straightforward public schools.”
Wauwatosa STEM currently has 108 students enrolled in senior kindergarten through fifth grade. As an independent charter school, it plans to expand this fall to junior kindergarten through sixth grade and eventually to add seventh- and eight-grade classes. And whereas current students have come from across the Wauwatosa School District, the school now is accepting applications from both within the city boundaries and beyond for the 2026-27 school year.
“This moment represents both continuity and growth,” Nicole Meier, the UW-Parkside Teacher Education Department’s outreach coordinator and charter schools liaison, said in the STEM news release. “We are thrilled to partner with WSTEM to carry forward the strengths, relationships, and successes this community has built, while embracing the opportunities this partnership creates for the future.”
STEM leaders are still in negotiations on a location for the newly independent school. Woodard said the school expects to move either to another facility in Wauwatosa, at 10201 W. Innovation Drive, or farther south in West Allis, at 6753 W. Rogers St. The school will no longer receive funding from the Wauwatosa School District but plans to continue enrolling students free of charge, with funding available from the state.
The Wauwatosa School Board voted in April 2025 not to renew its contract with the STEM charter school when that contract expires at the end of June 2026. The vote was 4-2, after a two-hour discussion in closed session. Later last spring, the district unveiled a new initiative called Discovery Lab intended to bring STEM-style education to students in all elementary schools in the district, offering a “STEM for all” vision.
At the same time, families of students enrolled at Wauwatosa STEM began mobilizing to save their school, which was rated the No. 4 elementary school in Wisconsin by U.S. News & World Report.
“Obviously, we were sad and upset that our school could potentially be closing,” Woodard said. She and other STEM parents also had been in communication with people in their wider STEM networks, who advised them on how to turn their school into an independent charter. That model gives the school community a level of autonomy, though UW-Parkside will add a layer of accountability, ensuring the school continues to meet and exceed state standards.
Applications for the 2026-27 school year opened on Jan. 26. Further information is available at WSTEM.org. The response so far has been positive, Woodard said.
“We’ve had really great momentum,” she said. “So much effort has gone in because we just know this model works.”
- David Paulsen, a Tosa East Towne resident and editor of Tosa Forward News, has more than 25 years of experience as a professional journalist. He can be reached at editor@tosanews.com.
