The Minnesota Association of Charter Schools (MACS) has published the criteria it will use for the first Minnesota Charter School Innovation Awards Program. The contest is open to all Minnesota charter schools. The application form as well as an informational webinar are available on the MACS website.

The award program, the first of its kind in Minnesota, was created to showcase some of the most innovative practices being used in Minnesota’s charter schools—and also to focus attention on the important role innovation is supposed to be playing in the development of charter schools, according to MACS Executive Director Eugene Piccolo.

The Innovation Awards web page states that “Minnesota’s public charter schools are, by law, expected to be labs of innovation in terms of creating different learning opportunities for students, teaching methodologies, formats for measuring outcomes, formats of accountability, and professional opportunities for teachers.”

The Innovation Award carries a $1,000 cash award in each of five categories and a featured presence at an Innovation Conference open to all Minnesota schools. The awards program is supported by a grant from the Labrador Foundation.

Applications are due August 12. The Innovation Conference is set for November, 2016.