The Board of Directors at Minnesota Transitions Charter School (MTCS) is thrilled to announce the placement of Shawn Fondow as the permanent Executive Director to lead its eight schools in the MTCS Academic Community. Mr. Fondow has served in the role of Interim Director since August of 2021.

Mr. Fondow’s unique combination of vision and collaboration, with experience and knowledge made him a clear choice for this role.

Board Chair, Tyler Frankhouse, said: “Mr. Fondow has a unique history of more than 15 years at MTCS that will allow him to step into this role and hit the ground running. The ideas brought forward by him this year have shown that he will help move MTCS forward as an organization. The board is excited to continue its work with Mr. Fondow and is looking forward to his continued leadership.”

Mr. Fondow has been a teacher and a leader in the MTCS K-12 Academic Community for more than fifteen years. He began as a physical education teacher and quickly stepped into leadership positions, including Principal of Banaadir Academy, Director of the JROTC Leadership program, Director of Elementary programs, and Principal of MTS Secondary School.

In 2019, Mr. Fondow took over the leadership of MTS Secondary School. On Memorial Day weekend in 2020, the MTS Secondary and the district offices were demolished in the civil unrest following the murder of George Floyd.

Following the destruction of the school, leadership listened to stakeholders: students, parents, staff, community members, worked with architects and planners and oversaw the creation of the new school and district office. It is In this building where you can see the vision of education that Shawn Fondow is committed to building.

Traditional education doesn’t work for every learner, and the new MTS Secondary, with its colorful, open, collaborative and unique space offers staff and students a new way to connect, thrive and create stronger futures for our students.

“In this role, I can see how all the pieces work together and what we are building. It is an exciting time at MTCS. We have amazing students and our enrollment is steadily growing. Our staff are talented and dedicated. My philosophy is to create space for our great people and give them the freedom to be great, go above and beyond to create a remarkable space and culture.” Shawn Fondow said.

This process included the creation of a committee dedicated to gathering feedback from all of our stakeholders. All of this feedback was shared with the board and was used to help drive our decisions as we worked through this process. After the extensive search process, the Board voted on April 28, to offer Mr. Fondow the position.