Charter Schools Governance Board

Birchwood Charter Schools
Governance Board
 

The Birchwood Charter Schools Governance Board helps guide and direct the Birchwood Charter Schools (Birchwood Public Montessori, Bobcat Virtual Academy, Birchwood STEAM and Career Academy and supports their missions and educational opportunities for students. 

More Information and Minutes, Click image Below

Governance Board Mission:

Our mission is to lead a new choice in quality education by providing direction in recruitment, financial support, and instructional vision.

 
Pat Zemaitis - President
Mike Acrey - Vice President
Candy Severson - Secretary/Treasurer
Loretta Greener - Community Member
Genna Peterson - Parent Member
Halle Luedtke - BPM Representative
Mike Zemaitis - BSCA Representative
Sonja Rogers - BVA Representative

             

Meet the Board

MIKE ACREY – VICE-PRESIDENT: Mike Acrey worked at General Motors in Arlington Texas. He began vacationing in the Birchwood area in the late 1990's. He retired after 30 years at GM in 2004 and moved permanently to Wisconsin to retire in 2006. In 2009 when The Birchwood Cafe and adjoining Laudromat came up for sale Mike and his wife Betsey came out of retirement. He joined the board in 2011 as a community member and began his service as Vice-President in 2013. Mike is also active with the Lions Club.  Mike and Betsey sold the Cafe in 2021.  Mike finds enjoyment on the golf course. Mike has three sons and 10 grandchildren.

CANDY SEVERSON – SECRETARY/TREASURER: Candy Severson and her husband, Jon, retired to the Birchwood area in 2002. She graduated from the College of Education at the University of Minnesota with a major in math and a minor in business. For the majority of her career she was a registered representative at Merrill Lynch where, in addition to handling client accounts, her responsibilities included training office staff. She joined the Governance Board as a community member and secretary in 2010. She has also been a senior volunteer at Birchwood School. When asked why she volunteers and serves on the board, her answer is that it is all about the kids, helping provide the best educational options. She enjoys genealogy and walks with her dog.

LORETTA GREENER – COMMUNITY MEMBER: Loretta Greener lives in Rice Lake and has been a school bus driver for Rice Lake for 14 years. She and her husband own Greener's Budget Lumber in Birchwood and enjoy being a part of Birchwood's community. Their son has been open enrolled in the Birchwood School District since 2014; where he began his journey in the Montessori E-1 room as a 2nd year student. Loretta has been a governance board member since 2015 and enjoys being able to provide ideas as well as helping Montessori teachers obtain necessary requests. Loretta has chosen to remain on the governance board during the transition stage of THE BBHCS (Birchwood Blue Hills Charter School) into the new reimagined Charter school. Kyle has transferred to the Traditional School in Birchwood at the beginning of his sophomore year while planning is in place.

GENNA PETERSON – PARENT MEMBER: Genna Peterson, her husband Mike and three boys live on the scout camp on Long Lake.  There they spend their time enjoying the great outdoors and working on their little hobby farm. Genna works for a large animal vet and Mike is employed by the Boy Scouts of America. Genna moved to the Rice Lake/ Birchwood area 6 years ago to build a life with her husband. Once the time came to decide where their children would attend school, Mike and Genna went to an open house at the Birchwood schools. After sitting in on presentations given by the students at the Montessori and Charter school, they chose to open enroll their son into the Montessori school. Genna is a new member to the governance board and excited to help where ever she is needed.

For more information and a link to current minutes, please click here. 

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