13 Moons: a Year in Reflection is a celebration of our achievements, milestones, and the many memories we made during the 2024-2025 school year. We invite you to read more about what makes Indian Community School an incredible place we're proud to be a part of. The title of our report, 13 Moons: A Year in Reflection, honors how many of our Native relatives understand the passage of time. A year is marked not only by months, but by 13 moon cycles that guide our seasons, teachings, and responsibilities. This report looks back on the full cycle, reflecting on the growth, learning, and community experiences that have shaped our school over the past year.
13 MOONS 2024-2025 a Year in Reflection
a message from the indian community school board of directors
October 2025
Haho/Haa, Pōsōh, Boozhoo, Shekóli, Greetings! We invite you to learn about our commitment to language and culture revitalization, which is at the heart of everything we do. We teach and honor four Native languages — Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Ojibwe, and Oneida — each carrying its own voice, stories, teachings, and ways of understanding the world. Students engage with these languages and cultures daily, not just in designated classes, but throughout the school day. Our languages and cultures are living things to be nurtured and practiced, and they are essential to our students’ well-being, identity, and purpose. The Our Ways Teaching and Learning Framework™ ensures that our languages and cultures are integrated into all aspects of teaching and learning. Seasonal teachings, ceremonies, storytelling, Indigenous games, song, dance, and land-based learning shape our approach. Our Teaching Lodge, gardens, ponds and boardwalks, the forest trails, and plant medicines
offer places for reflection, growth, and learning from the land itself. Together, these practices affirm that academic excellence and cultural strength go hand in hand. This truth was recognized in a significant way this past year when ICS achieved Cognia® Accreditation, a nationally recognized mark of educational excellence. This distinction affirms what we know to be true: our students thrive in a rigorous academic program rooted in Indigenous ways of knowing.
From the enduring lessons of our Knowledge Keeper Tree, to our pow wows, cultural camps, celebrations, gatherings, language performances, and hands-on learning, our students are encouraged to learn who they are and where they come from. Through strong partnerships and Indigenous leadership, we are not just teaching languages and cultures — we are living them, and preparing our students and the next generation to carry them forward. Pįįhįragigi / Wa’įnįįgįnąpšąną, Wāēwāēnen, Miigwech, Yaw ◊÷ kó•, Thank You, for your interest in learning about our school.
Carmen Flores Chair
Sommer Drake Vice-Chair
Diane Amour Secretary
Justin Thundercloud Treasurer
Carrie McGhee Gleba Director
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13 moons: a year in reflection 2024-2025
The revitalization of our languages and cultures is the heart of our school.
The Our Ways program ensures that Native language and culture are integrated into every aspect of life at Indian Community School. Guided by our Mission, the work we do supports students, staff, and the community in building capacity to revitalize and sustain our languages and cultural practices for future generations. Our Native Language and Culture staff work to create stability and deepen our revitalization efforts. Seasonal Camps were led primarily by them, showcasing the ICS way of teaching language and culture, while still welcoming guest presenters to strengthen tribal connections and enrich student learning. This approach has increased staff engagement, strengthened relationships with tribal knowledge keepers, and
Partnerships with cultural guests, tribal programs, and strong community engagement — including events like Dinner & Discussions, community-led workshops, cultural celebrations, and collaborative projects — ensure that language and culture are not just taught, but actively practiced and celebrated. This year, our student singers proudly participated for the first time in Milwaukee’s annual “414 Day” celebration on April 14, 2025, sharing their voices and songs as part of a citywide event honoring Milwaukee’s diverse culture and community.
Use of outdoor spaces such as the Teaching Lodge, gardens, ponds, plant medicine fields, and forest trails connects learning to the land and fosters shared experiences between students, staff, families, and community members. With a dedicated Our Ways team and staff, and the active involvement of our community partners, we remain at the forefront of Native language and culture revitalization. We help our students grow in knowledge, identity, and pride, and strengthen the cultural connections that unite us all.
attracted new staff, building a talent pool for the future. Our team continues to integrate language and culture through the Our Ways Teaching and Learning Framework,™ which includes seasonal teachings, ceremonies, Indigenous games, and land-based learning. Students are making greater gains in language knowledge than ever before, and we are committed to going even further.
CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR WAYS EVENTS • WINTER 2025
CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR WAYS EVENTS • FALL 2024
CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR WAYS EVENTS • SPRING 2025
Hicakoro Nēmat Wiijiiwaagan
Kyat^ Friend ´
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Teaching and Learning
teaching and learning annual report Indian Community School is committed to providing engaging learning environments that place students at the center of the learning process. At ICS, we are dedicated to increasing student engagement, providing authentic cultural programming, promoting problem solving and critical thinking skills, connecting concepts to real world experiences, fostering creativity, and preparing students for their futures. The ICS curriculum has been developed from both academic standards and the Our Ways Teaching and Learning Framework™ to ensure a curricular center from which all grade level units, lessons, activities, and assessments are developed. map achievement This data provides an overall summary of grade level achievement in Reading and Math for all students at ICS. The achievement charts show the total percent of students at ICS who fall within each Achievement Tier distributed across eight performance levels. map achievement and growth These charts represent students’ achievement and growth displayed together. This summary allows ICS to analyze what percent of students are attaining within four categories to make programmatic decisions in Reading and Math to identify and meet individual learner needs. map grade level achievement (reading and math) This chart represents students who are reaching grade level expectations in Reading and Math. This data assists in ensuring our instructional programming is supporting students equitably across all grade levels. map grade level growth (reading and math) This chart represents the number of students at ICS who met or did not meet their identified growth projections in both Reading and Math at each grade level. Growth projections are determined by NWEA based on the student’s Fall MAP assessment. The MAP assessment is administered again in Spring to determine if students met those projections or not. In contrast to achievement, which is based on the levels of performance students have attained in a given year, the Growth area measures if students have grown the expected amount during the year and assists in ensuring our instructional programming is supporting students equitably across all grade levels.
Click here to see the the full 2024-2025 Teaching and Learning Report
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13 moons: a year in reflection 2024-2025
Our Students and Alumni
Ho-Chunk
45 Students
Menominee
Oneida
our students Student enrollment for the 2024-2025 school year was 369 for grades K4-8. Our student population is comprised of over 40 tribal Nations with the largest groups being Oneida (114), Ojibwe (109), Ho-Chunk (38), and Menominee (28). We offered classes in Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Ojibwe and Oneida languages and cultures to our students, K4-8th grade. Each student chose one of the four and attended dedicated classes four days a week. In addition, students received instruction based on a curriculum that has been developed from academic standards and the Our Ways Teaching and Learning Framework.™
48 Students
128 Students
148 Students
Ojibwe
Students Learning the Languages and Cultures Taught at ICS
Tribal Nations of our Students for the 2024-2025 School Year
Navajo Ojibwe Ojibwe Ojibwe Ojibwe Ojibwe Ojibwe Ojibwe Ojibwe Ojibwe Ojibwe Ojibwe Ojibwe Ojibwe Ojibwe
................................................................. 2 Keeweenaw Bay.......................................1 Lac Vieux Desert....................................... 1 Fond du Lac..............................................2 Minnesota Chippewa...............................2 Mole Lake.................................................2 Saginaw Chippewa...................................2 Sokaogon Chippewa.................................3 Turtle Mountain Band of ..........................3 Chippewa Indians Sault Ste Marie.........................................6 White Earth..............................................6 Red Cliff....................................................8 Lac Du Flambeau.....................................22 Lac Courte Oreilles...................................24 Bad River.................................................27
Brothertown .................................................................2 Cherokee Northern Cherokee Nation........................4 Cheyenne Northern Cheyenne..................................1 Choctaw Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma...................2 Chumash Chumash Tribe Santa Barbara................... 1 Comanche Comanche Tribe of Oklahoma................... 2 Ho-Chunk Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin ............... 35 Winnebago Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska................... 3 Kaw Nation Rock Creek....................................................1 Kootenai Salish-Kootenai........................................ 1 Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara................................................3 Menominee ................................................................28 Mohawk Upper Mohawk Six Nations .....................2 of the Grand River Muscogee Poarch Band Creek....................................2 Muscogee Muscogee Creek.......................................4
Oneida Ottawa Ottawa
............................................................... 114 Little River................................................3 Grand Traverse......................................... 11
Pima Gila River..................................................1 Potawatomi Prairie Band. ............................................ 2 Potawatomi Hannahville..............................................3 Potawatomi Forest County. .......................................... 9 Seminole Seminole-Creek........................................ 1 Sioux Oglala....................................................... 1 Sioux Birdtail. .................................................... 2 Sioux Rosebud................................................... 2 Sioux Spirit Lake................................................2 Sioux Standing Rock..........................................6 Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican........................................10
scholarships awarded The I Can Soar Scholarship® was developed to provide ICS graduating 8th-graders and Alumni with financial support to pursue their dreams of attending a private high school. Each year, our graduates and Alumni are eligible to apply for up to $13,500 through our scholarship program.
$13,500 I Can Soar Scholarship® per Student
101 Scholarships Awarded Over the Past Four Years
32 Scholarships Awarded for the 24-25 School Year
High Schools That Our Alumni Students Attended in 2024-2025
Pius XI Wisconsin Lutheran St. Joan Antida St. Thomas More
West Allis Central Greenfield Muskego South Milwaukee
Milwaukee Vincent University School of Milwaukee Milwaukee High School of the Arts Marquette University High School
The Prairie School Tenor High School Pathways
I Can Soar Scholarship®
alumni who work at our school Attracting and retaining the highest quality teachers and staff for our students is always our goal. Nothing makes us more proud and excited than when our ICS Alumni choose to work at our school in these important positions. We encourage ICS Alumni, families, and community members to check our website for open positions throughout the year. You can also join the ICS Talent Community to receive regularly scheduled email updates about career opportunities by filling out our form. To learn more, please contact us at hr@ics-edu.org or visit us online.
Seven ICS Alumni work in Academics
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Five ICS Alumni work in Our Ways
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Twelve ICS Alumni Worked at ICS during the 2024-2025 School Year
Hokaware! Pīhtīhkaekon Biindigeg Taswatáwyaht Come in!
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Infographics
19,885 Breakfasts Served to Students
16- 20 Years 6 Staff
21-25 Years
10-15 Years 14 Staff
30,000 Afternoon Snacks 47,520
41,642 Lunches
7 Staff
Served to
Served in
Students
25+ Years 10 Staff
Classrooms
Free and Nutritious Meals and Snacks Served to ICS Students
ICS Tenured Staff
Boys Basketball Fall/Winter/Spring 34 44 22
126 Events & Programs Promoted
1,572 Social Media Posts
52 Program Flyers
Soccer Fall / Spring 15 63
Tackle Football Fall 30
Number of Students in After-School Sports
24 Student News Team Words
161 Forms & Documents
Lacrosse Franklin / ICS 17 11
Fitness Winter 15
71 Family Newsletters & Announcements
of the Week
Volleyball 34
ICS Communications
1,000 Breakfast with Santa / Holiday Craft Fair
113 FRC Events & Programs
200 Fall Feast & Round Dance
1,000 Bear Moon Pow Wow
12 Other Events (Concerts, Art, Poetry, etc.)
3 Events for ICS Alumni
Largest ICS Events (by Attendance)
School and Community Events
600 Hoyt Pool Party
432 Trunk or Treat
27 Our Ways Events & Programs
164 Family Movie Nights
ICS families who participated in FRC Programs.
68%
Percentage of families in FRC programming prior to student enrollment.
79%
Percentage of children in Play and Learn or PAT enrolled as students.
78%
Impact of FRC Programming
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13 moons: a year in reflection 2024-2025
Special Achievements • Family Engagement
7th-grade boys basketball team
family resource center (frc) In 2024–2025, FRC delivered a full slate of programs, with Play and Learn, Parents as Teachers, and FAST operating at capacity and drawing new families. Collaborations with other departments and support for Our Ways cultural programming strengthened connections across the school.
We celebrated the success of our 7th-grade Boys Basketball team, who finished the season with a 12-0 record and earned first place in the (7A) Parkview Parochial League. The team showed resilience and team- work, playing 10 of its 12 league games on the road. Go Eagles!
FRC also provided critical assistance to families facing hardship, while advancing early childhood transitions through the Early Childhood Education Committee. Parent engagement remained a top priority, with the Family Engagement Council helping to build stronger partnerships between families, staff, and administration. highlights from our family engagement efforts • Play and Learn was at full capacity all year, serving 30 families. • FAST Elementary and FAST Middle School was at capacity, with positive outcomes reflected in evaluations. • Developed streamlined K4/K5 onboarding and screening processes, improving consistency in enrollment decisions and service referrals.
middle school physical education teacher of the year
Ms. Courtney Lukasavitz (Ms. Luka), Health & Physical Education Teacher, received the 2025 SHAPE America National Middle School Physical Education Teacher of the Year award! SHAPE America (Society of
Health and Physical Educators) is the national organization for Physical Education and Health. It provides standards, resources, and advocacy to promote active, healthy lifestyles for all students. herb kohl educational foundation
iste making it happen award Pattie Morales, Instructional Technology
Coordinator, was recognized with the ISTE Making IT Happen Award from ISTE/ASCD and WEMTA. This award honors educators who demonstrate exceptional leadership in advancing learning through technology. By equipping teachers with
2025 fellowship award Physical Education Teacher, B. Denise Christofferson (Mrs. C) was named a 2025 Herb Kohl Educational Foundation Teacher Fellow. With 34 years of teaching experience — including 26 years at ICS —
innovative tools, advocating for digital equity, and integrating Indigenous education into digital learning, Pattie exemplifies the qualities of an educational leader who ensures technology serves all learners.
Mrs. C has guided two generations of students with heart, humor, and a deep commitment to lifelong wellness.
ICS students helped Marquette University’s Indigeneity Lab to plant manoomin (wild rice) in the Menominee River. Before planting, ICS students led the adults with asemaa (tobacco) ceremony, and then nibi (water) ceremony. The Indigeneity Lab’s goal is to return manoomin to the waters where it has been absent for nearly 200 years, restoring both a sacred food and a living connection to our ancestors.
Pįįxjį! Wēskewat Onizhishin Yoyánehle That’s great!
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Our Mission The Indian Community School nurtures the whole child — mind, body, spirit, and emotions — through Indigenous ways of knowing, language, and values. We prepare our students with a strong cultural identity, critical thinking, and academic readiness to live in a good way and carry forward the wisdom of our ancestors for the benefit of future generations. Seven Sacred Gifts Our Values are based on the seven Sacred Gifts from the Creator that express the Indian philosophy of life through fundamental convictions, collective beliefs and exemplary character. Among the many Sacred Gifts given by the Creator, the Indian Community School experience focuses on: Bravery, Humility, Love, Honesty, Respect, Wisdom and Truth. Land and Water Acknowledgment We first acknowledge the land and the water that has become home to Indian Community School. We acknowledge all of the caretakers of this land: · those who were removed or erased from their traditional homelands here; including the Sauk, Fox, Dakota Oyáte, Mesquaki, Ioway, Miami, Kickapoo and Mascouten; and the Nations whose names we will never know; · those who most recently lived here as a nation: the Bodwe’wadmi (keepers of the fire), who reside here as part of the Three Fires Confederacy and are known today as the Potawatomi; · those whose creation stories took place in neighboring lands and who have called this territory “home” since time immemorial: the Ho-Chungra (people of the loud voice), today known as the Ho-Chunk and the Mamaceqtawak (the people), known today as the Menominee; · the most recent caretakers, the students, staff and board of the Indian Community School. We also acknowledge those who represent the Tribal Nations of what is now Wisconsin: Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Forest County Potawatomi, Ho-Chunk Nation, Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, Oneida Nation, Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Sokaogon Chippewa Community - Mole Lake Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Saint Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin, Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians, Brothertown Indian Nation and all of the Tribal Nations outside of Wisconsin’s borders, whose tribal members and descendants are represented by our students, staff and community.
10405 W. St. Martins Rd. • Franklin, WI 53132 • Phone: 414-525-6100 www.ics-edu.org © 2025 INDIAN COMMUNITY SCHOOL, INC.
13 moons: a year in reflection 2024-2025
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