Meet the Bethel-trained educators shaping the future at one of Minnesota’s top charter schools.

Last spring, a student teacher turned to PACT Charter Elementary Principal Lara Bronson, Ed.D., and said: “There is something different about PACT. I can see why you came here.” Bronson shared the comment with her staff through tears. “It is the relationship that the teachers are building with their students, their commitment to excellence, their modeling of character traits, their intentional partnership efforts with families, and their unwavering optimism in seeing the best in their students’ potential for growth.”

That difference, Bronson says, begins with leadership—and many of those leaders share a common foundation. More than 20 PACT educators hold a degree from Bethel, including five members of the leadership team. For Superintendent Nathan Flansburg, Ed.D., that shared foundation is helping him shape a culture of servant leadership that runs deep throughout the school. “It’s not about being the best,” Flansburg ’97, GS’00, GS’15 says. “It’s about being the best for kids.”

A new chapter at PACT

Founded in Ramsey, Minnesota, in 1994 as Minnesota pioneered the charter school model, PACT has long ranked among the state’s top schools. But by the time leadership approached Flansburg—a former PACT parent and board member—to become superintendent in 2024, the school was facing serious challenges. 

Flansburg describes his move to PACT as an answer to prayer—a way to expand his influence and further the work he feels called to do: building systems that help kids thrive. And soon after starting, he uncovered financial issues that risked compliance violations and potential closure. Flansburg moved quickly: bringing in a new chief financial officer, implementing stronger controls, and restructuring the leadership team. Within a year, PACT was financially stable and academically stronger. The school added new academic pathways and embraced a growth mindset. “We’re eliminating the idea that there’s a cap on learning,” Flansburg says. “All kids are met academically, no matter where they’re at.”

To lead that kind of turnaround, he knew he needed a strong, mission-aligned team. Many of his first calls went to colleagues from Bethel’s Ed.D. in K-12 Administration program. “You want highly ethical individuals—people you trust,” he says. “I had the blessing of meeting some amazing individuals in Bethel’s doctoral program.”

Shared foundations

Flansburg’s team reflects shared values and a unified vision. Secondary Principal Shawn Lohse GS’14 pursued her Ed.D. at Bethel because it aligned with her beliefs—and later chose to work at a charter school like PACT for similar reasons. “My time at Bethel afforded me the opportunity to make connections with other educators who shared my values and philosophy around what we believe about students,” she says. “That ultimately led me to working with them at a charter.”

Across the team, Bethel’s influence is evident not just in credentials, but in the culture they help build—rooted in service, integrity, and a deep belief in every student’s worth. “More than anything, it has meant having a shared why,” says social studies teacher and Online School Coordinator Tom Keefe ’14, GS’28. His colleagues were a key reason he chose to enroll in Bethel’s Ed.D. program to grow as a leader. “I’m getting the opportunity to make connections between what I’m learning and how things actually work in my school context,” he says.

Executive Director of Teaching and Learning Teresa Widen ’00, GS’26, also sees a throughline in her Bethel-connected peers. “They show up each day with authenticity, a commitment to building strong relationships, and a deep focus on doing what is best for students,” she says. After decades in education, Widen returned to Bethel to earn principal and superintendent licenses, and she’ll complete her Ed.D. in spring.

Bronson agrees that working alongside fellow Bethel alumni brings a natural sense of alignment. “We speak a common language, share a Bethel camaraderie, and understand one another’s sense of God’s calling on our lives to serve as educators with excellence,” she says. That mission drew her to PACT in the first place. After years training K-12 educators in higher ed, she felt pulled to PACT when the principal role opened. “PACT’s focus on character traits and family partnership was a huge draw for me.”

While Flansburg emphasizes that great teachers come from many backgrounds, he often sees something distinct in Bethel-trained educators. “They have a heart and love for children that you can just see in a different way,” he says. He’s careful not to diminish the strengths of others, but says Bethel alumni consistently lead with care, connection, and trust—qualities students and parents alike notice and appreciate.

A mission-driven charter school

Flansburg is quick to clarify a common misconception about charter schools. Many people mistake them for private schools, but charters like PACT are public, tuition-free, and open to all students. Though families apply through a lottery system, PACT does not charge tuition or require selective admissions as it serves about 1,500 students.

Charter schools also operate with different financial realities than traditional districts. On average, they receive about 70% of the state funding traditional school districts do—and have no access to local levies or referendums. Despite those limitations, Flansburg sees charter schools as some of the most effective models in the state. “We have to go and work on tighter margins for better outcomes,” he says. “And what’s really great is, if you look at some of the top-performing schools in the state of Minnesota, they’re charters, and they’re doing it on less funding, and they’re doing it with better outcomes.”

For Flansburg and his team, the strength of the charter model lies in its focus. “We’re not trying to be everything to everybody,” he says. “We have a specific mission and culture, and families choose us because that aligns with what they want for their child.”

That mission includes strong family engagement. Since its founding, PACT has expected families to volunteer at school and stay deeply involved in their child’s education. “In a day and age when many parents feel that they’re being excluded from their child’s educational choices,” Flansburg says, “we’re saying you’re the driver of your child’s educational choices, and we’re here to partner with you.”

Widen agrees that the charter model allows schools to build intentional communities. “Charter schools offer families meaningful choice and the chance to find a mission-driven community,” she says. “That flexibility to innovate allows us to truly meet students where they are.”

While each leader has their own story, they share a deep belief in the power of charter schools to drive meaningful, mission-aligned change. “I love that we have distinctives, like our character traits, and partnering with parents,” Lohse says. With strong family partnerships, shared values, and a school culture centered on student growth, PACT offers a close-knit, purpose-filled environment where students are known, supported, and challenged to grow.

Leadership shaped by faith

Though PACT is a public school, Bronson says her faith shapes how she leads. “Being salt and light in the community is what fuels me in my profession as a leader and an educator,” she says. “We need Christian educators in public schools to shine and radiate Christ’s joy in the beautifully complex society we’re privileged to be living in.”

Many of her Bethel-connected colleagues share that calling. For Flansburg, faith means leading with integrity, protecting students, and pursuing excellence. “He didn’t call us to sit still,” he says. “He calls us to be world changers and really further His kingdom in the ways that we can.”

Widen says her faith helps her stay grounded, both as a confident leader and as a servant. “I desire to lead like Christ by building trusting relationships, empowering others to grow and lead, and facilitating organizational transformation,” she says.

Keefe says his faith shapes how he sees students and leads others. “Faith- and values-based leadership keeps the dignity and worth of every person at the center of my leadership,” he says. “I want students to experience school as a place where they’re stretched and supported, but never reduced to a test score or to who they’ll be one day.”

Purpose-driven growth

After a season of hard work, there are clear signs of momentum. PACT is preparing to launch an online program beginning in fall 2026. The school plans to start with grades 7-10 and enroll 50 to 100 students in the first year, with a long-term goal of serving grades 6-12 and potentially adding elementary options based on demand and mission fit. Flansburg says the model will offer real-time instruction when needed, opportunities for students to self-pace, and meaningful ways for families to stay engaged. “We want to create opportunities for parents to be involved—again, going back to our core mission, parents to be the participants in their child’s online experience,” he says.

Along with the upcoming online program, PACT is now financially stable, and its academic rankings have improved. Perhaps the most visible sign is the waitlist: despite a minimal marketing budget, more than 800 students were on it this past summer. “How does that happen? Word of mouth,” Flansburg says. “When the experience has been so high quality for our families, and they appreciate the different experience they have, they then talk about it with their neighbors, and they become our biggest market tool.”

As PACT looks ahead, its leadership team remains focused on the mission—and on each other. “PACT is truly a learning organization,” Widen says, “where leaders, teachers, students, and families grow together as we prepare the next generation.”

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