Math and Science Academy (MSA) is a Woodbury charter school focusing on (what else?) math and science. Last July, John Gawarecki officially took over as the director of the school. We spoke with Gawarecki about the school and his role as director.
What is the mission of MSA?
MSA was founded in 1999. It’s a public charter school that is designed with a focus on math and science. All of our graduates have to pass calculus, and most schools don’t have that math requirement. Students must have three years of science and four years of Spanish.
Why math, science and Spanish?
Charter schools must have a defined academic focus area, which is how they get their charter. Math and science were part of the original charter by the founders. Spanish just kind of evolved. Parents in the area said it was important to have a second language, and Spanish was the natural choice.
What is a typical day like for a student?
If you walk into the school, it will look like a typical school. We have a fantastic performance arts department, so a lot of band and choir. The school has a fairly traditional feel, but the part that isn’t traditional is we test every student who comes into the school to find out where students are academically in math, and they are placed in a math class accordingly.
About half the student population is done with math by sophomore year of high school. Once they are done with calculus, we offer statistics classes and things like that, but a lot of students will go on to PSEO.
What kind of students does the school attract?
MSA attracts a pretty broad range, and part of that is because our performing arts are so good. Probably five to 10 years ago it was mostly just math and computer science people, but that has diminished over the years. It’s still our focus, but we have a more diverse student population.
What is your personal background?
My focus is chemistry and physics. I’ve taught for 20 years in that area. I love math and science. I’ve always kept my eye on MSA because I thought it would be a cool school. When the position opened up, I already knew some of the staff here and knew it was a place I wanted to go. The last six years I’ve been waiting for the right opportunity and this one presented itself last spring.
What are some of the challenges you face as director?
I think the biggest challenge the school faces is transportation, because we rely on South Washington County Schools. However, the biggest concern I have right now is expanding space at our facility.
What are some of your goals and what do you hope to bring to the school?
My No. 1 goal is to maintain academic rigor. Then, I would like to expand in the area or go somewhere else in the metropolitan area, because there is a lot the school has to offer. A long-term goal is to maintain the viability of the school, and the number two goal is, in order to do that, we need to expand the middle school. We are maxed out as far as classes go.
Personally, I have a three-year plan. The first year is about understanding the culture of the school and not disrupting that too much—the old adage “If it’s working, why fix it?” The second year is to start looking at identifying areas of improvement, so that by the third year we have moved the school forward.
