Former Brighton High principal Pat Cwayna named state’s top charter school administrator

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Pat Cwayna got his start as an administrator as the principal of Brighton High School in the 1980s. From there, he moved to the west side of the state, where he became the longtime principal at East Grand Rapids High School.

And now, the former BHS principal is the top charter school administrator in the state.

Cwayna, the CEO of West Michigan Aviation Academy in Grand Rapids, was named the 2018 Michigan Charter School Administrator of the Year during a surprise assembly today at the school.

There are 295 charter schools in Michigan, with more than 10,000 teachers and 1,000 administrators. This is the top award that a charter school administrator in Michigan can receive.

Cwayna was off-site at a meeting this morning while the entire student body of more than 600 students, along with all the staff and numerous distinguished visitors, filed into the gymnasium for an assembly. When Cwayna returned to the school, he was told to come into the gymnasium to check something out – at which point the entire crowd erupted. Cwayna’s family was also on hand for the surprise announcement.

Cwayna is well-known in West Michigan, where he served as the principal of East Grand Rapids High School for more than 20 years. He took on a new challenge in 2010 as the founding principal of West Michigan Aviation Academy, a charter high school located on the grounds of the Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids. It’s the only school in Michigan that’s located at an airport, and one of the only ones in the country that is.

Cwayna built the school from the ground up, and it’s become one of the most innovative and successful schools in the state. As a STEM-focused school, West Michigan Aviation Academy’s graduates gain acceptance to some of the top engineering schools in the country, and the school has seen more than 60 students each their private pilot’s licenses (the school owns two airplanes). Academically, it’s also become of the best schools in the state, earning a Silver Medal in the U.S. News & World Report’s prestigious “Best High Schools in America” rankings.

“What Pat Cwayna has done at West Michigan Aviation Academy is nothing short of remarkable,” Quisenberry said. “He came from the world of traditional education, and he discovered that because his new school was a charter school, he was able to be innovative and creative, and design a school that was entirely focused on the student. He hired every teacher and administrator, and designed the educational model and curriculum from the ground up. And just look at what they’ve accomplished. There’s no other school in America that’s quite like West Michigan Aviation Academy.”

West Michigan Aviation Academy is authorized by Bay Mills Community College. Cwayna and the four other finalists for the 2018 Michigan Charter School Administrator of the Year award were honored on April 25 at the State Capitol in Lansing. The four other finalists were:

  • Aquan Grant, principal of Arbor Preparatory High School in Ypsilanti
  • Bill Kraly, co-director of the Chatfield School in Lapeer
  • Jim Levering, principal of Black River Public School Montessori Elementary in Holland
  • Shawn Robson of Hartland, principal of Global Heights Academy in Dearborn Heights

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The Livingston Post is the only locally owned, all-digital information and opinion site in Livingston County, Mich. It was launched by award-winning journalists who were laid off from the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus by Gannett Co. Inc. in 2009.