Manitowoc, Wis.— This fall, 83 high school students will walk into a college building and call it their new home.

The Manitowoc Public School District’s Lakeshore School of Innovation (LSI) is relocating to the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Manitowoc Campus beginning in the 2026-27 school year. LSI builds upon the foundation of McKinley Academy, Manitowoc Public School District’s (MPSD) former charter high school. After the MPSD Board of Education dissolved the McKinley Academy charter effective June 2025, the program transitioned into Lakeshore School of Innovation, a project-based alternative high school serving students in grades 9–12. The move provides LSI with a permanent home on a working college campus.  

“Lakeshore has grown every year because families here want something different for their kids,” said Stephanie Boncher, principal, Lakeshore School of Innovation. “This location helps us deliver, by providing more space to help students solve real problems, work with adults and manage their own time. This is the first time our students will learn in a space that was designed for people who chose to be there and are following different paths. That changes the conversation we get to have with them about what comes next.”

LSI students build knowledge through project-based learning, personalized instruction and meaningful real-world experiences. The result is a set of skills that employers and colleges both ask for:

  • Critical Thinking
  • Collaboration & Teamwork
  • Technology Fluency
  • Real-World Problem Solving
  • Adaptability & Resilience
  • Communication & Leadership

The new address adds something the old one could not. Down the hall, LSI students will find peers already doing what many of them are working toward. UW-Green Bay’s Rising Phoenix program is a dual enrollment partnership that pairs a rigorous academic pathway with personalized student success coaching, allowing students to finish their senior year holding both a high school diploma and a UW-Green Bay associate of Arts and Sciences degree.

“A lot of our students will be the first in their families to attend college,” said Boncher. “When you’re here every day — when you know where the coffee is and which path is the quickest walk to your classroom — college stops being a place other people go. It becomes a choice…an achievable goal.”

District and University staff are also exploring ways for LSI students to connect and collaborate with UW-Green Bay faculty, staff and students on the Manitowoc Campus, fostering the kind of everyday contact that turns “college” from an abstraction into a place a student already knows how to navigate.

“UW-Green Bay’s mission is to welcome everyone who wants to learn. Sharing this campus with Lakeshore students is the most literal version of that I can think of,” said Wendi Holschbach, UW-Green Bay Lakeshore campuses building and event manager at the UW-Green Bay, Manitowoc Campus. “The region gets stronger when more of its young people can picture a future that starts here. This partnership is about fostering learning and collaboration.”

Classes at the new location begin September 2, 2026. The Lakeshore School of Innovation serves students in grades 9-12. Families interested in enrolling can learn more on the Lakeshore School of Innovation web page.

About Lakeshore School of Innovation

Lakeshore School of Innovation is a project-based alternative high school within the Manitowoc Public School District serving students in grades 9–12. Through personalized instruction, collaborative learning and real-world experiences, LSI helps students develop the academic, technical and interpersonal skills needed for success after high school. Beginning with the 2026–27 school year, LSI is located on the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Manitowoc Campus.

About UW-Green Bay
The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay is a school of resilient problem solvers who dare to reach higher with the power of education that ignites growth and answers the biggest challenges. Serving 11,519 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students as well as 101,000 continuing education learners annually, UW-Green Bay offers 200 academic degrees, programs and certificates. Featuring the region’s only Division-1 athletics, The Weidner performing arts center, campus locations in Green Bay, Manitowoc and Sheboygan, and a theatre in Marinette, the University’s access mission welcomes all who want to learn, from every corner of the world. Championing bold thinking since opening its doors in 1965, it is a university on the rise – Wisconsin’s fastest growing UW. For more information, visit www.uwgb.edu.