New Riveredge school a natural fit for new teachers

Jessica Tipkemper is at home in the outdoors, and this fall she also will be at work there, helping launch a new school at the Riveredge Nature Center.

Tipkemper is the lead teacher at the Riveredge Outdoor Learning Elementary School, or ROLES, a new charter school of the Northern Ozaukee School District.

The school will use the nature center’s 40 acres as a year-round outdoor classroom for 70-some students in kindergarten through fourth grade.

For Tipkemper, it’s a “perfect fit” for her and well worth relocating from Alaska to Wisconsin.

“Moving across the continent is a crazy thing to do,” she said, “but the position was such a good fit for my background. It felt like a once in a lifetime opportunity.” 

A native of Cincinnati, Tipkemper arrived March 1 and has been working to assemble a staff and prepare for the start of school on Sept. 3.

Tipkemper was an outdoor education specialist and interpretive ranger for the National Park Service for several years at Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska, teaching park visitors about the park. 

The outdoors was her classroom.

“While I was there, we also created a summer camp for local kids so they had the same opportunities that the tourists had,” she said.

More recently, she was one of three teachers at a public school in Klukwan, Alaska, teaching 30 students in kindergarten through 12th grades.

A single mom with two children, ages 13 and 10, Tipkemper has settled in Cedarburg.

“We’re very happy. I find myself feeling grateful every single day, if not for one thing then another,” she said. “I’m thankful for the staff and the staff we’re building. The surroundings are beautiful, and I love the opportunities that exist for my children.”

There have been other outdoor schools, Tipkemper said, “but we have not seen a lot of schools that have managed to do it to the degree that we’re hoping to have here.

“(ROLES) will be very much place-based and place-driven.”

Assisting Tipkemper is Ashley Gauger, who has experience as an outdoor educator in the Czech Republic and other “innovative learning spaces,” Tipkemper said. “That is a huge strength she brings.” 

Two other teachers with experience in outdoor education have been hired, she said.

“I think with that team and the people at Riveredge and our Governance Council, there’s a lot of experience and resources we’re bringing together,” she said. “And Northern Ozaukee is really stepping up to be a partner with us.”

ROLES is a tuition-free public school and will follow the Northern Ozaukee School District calendar.

This year, there will be kindergarten, first and second-grade classes and a combined third and fourth-grade. Eventually, a fifth-grade class will be added. 

Ultimately, enrollment is expected to top out at around 100 students.

Plans also call for eventually building an education center on Riveredge property.

Interest in the new school was high from the moment it was first announced, with more than 100 applications submitted.

A lottery was held to fill the seats. Each class will be limited to 18 students.

Tipkemper said there are still two seats available in the second grade class. Parents interested in applying can call Gauger at 375-2715 or email her at agauger@riveredge.us. 

For more information on ROLES, go to theriveredgeschool.org.