

“As a proud parent of two graduates from Stillwater Area Schools, I am dedicated to unifying our district and ensuring our schools remain a place of excellence.”
Mike Ptacek
Strong, Clear Core Values
- The variety of our schools and the varied elementary school delivery adds to our outstanding middle and senior high schools and strengthens us as a district.
- As an elected group, School Board members for Stillwater Area Public Schools must listen to all stakeholders, encourage freedom of expression, ask tough questions, and demand thorough and transparent answers.
- We all need to do a much better job of working together for our kids.
Extensive Experience and Expertise as a Leader for Stillwater Area Public Schools
- More than 50 years of experience as a teacher, principal, curriculum director, education consultant, and board member.
- Twelve years of experience as a School Board member, including one year as chair, three years as vice chair, three years as clerk.
- Six years at NE Metro Intermediate 916 School Board representative (14 school districts), including one year as chair.
- MSBA Delegate Assembly representative 2016-20.
- Schools for Equity Education (57 school Districts) president-elect.
- Proven knowledge in educational leadership, curriculum, and policy issues.
- Expertise as a leading presenter, panelist, and co-author on education issues.
- Across-the-board know-how as a consultant and member of committees and task forces such as:
- The Youth Alcohol and Drug Steering Committee.
- The 2007 and 2011 school district levy campaigns.
- Policy, Finance, and Legislative committees.
- The Kern Family Foundation, which has awarded Project Lead the Way (PLTW) start-up grants totaling millions of dollars, an important subset of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math).
Ability to Facilitate Continuous Improvement, Preparing All Students for Successful Futures
- A fundamental understanding of research-based decision-making and utilization of best practices.
- Robust knowledge of design, implementation, and evaluation of curriculum and its effective delivery.
- Strong belief in focusing on student outcomes using a variety of measurements to benchmark student success.
- Experience in improvement and preservation of our country’s engineering and technology capabilities through a middle and high school pre-engineering program called PLTW, an important subset of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) curriculum.
- Played a pioneering role in bringing PLTW to District 834 and St. Croix Catholic schools, demonstrating how PLTW could be piloted with no initial District 834 cost.
- Experience improving teacher performance through ongoing supervision, evaluation, mentoring, training, and coaching.
Understands the Power of Community Partnerships
- A clear vision that quality educational outcomes are developed from strong partnerships between teachers, parents, students, and business and community leaders.
- Success in recruiting numerous businesses and industries as partners with local school districts.
- Leadership in developing the Stillwater Schools’ program that enables students to earn a varsity letter in community service.
Re-Elect Mike Ptacek for Stillwater Area Public Schools!
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318 Sixth Street S, Stillwater, MN 55082