Inside the Alliance School of Milwaukee, on a perfect summer day, volunteers were spending their free time moving books and classrooms. Outside, they were pulling weeds. 

The volunteers were there to help the new principal, Christine Lemon, bring her plans for Alliance to life and get the school ready for fall — everyone from former and current colleagues to the principal’s 77-year-old mother from northwest Indiana, as well as the founder of Alliance (and current MPS chief officer of Board Governance).

Ms. Lemon officially was principal less than a week then, but she had been focused on Alliance since May, when she learned she would lead the MPS charter high school at 850 W. Walnut St. 

One of her first acts was to walk through the school with her former fellow assistant principals from Pulaski and her partner, to brainstorm the best use of the space. Planning and paperwork became nonstop. 

She organized the July work day to kick off the changes and called it Rebuilding Community Day — her vision for the school. 

All MPS schools are getting ready for fall, but not all are making changes to the extent that Alliance School is. 

Principal Lemon rethought how the school will look, but she also envisioned how the school will feel — a peaceful, joyous place where everyone will sense they belong. 

Society has changed since Alliance first opened in 2005. Its founder, Tina Owen-Moore, EdLD, wanted a school that was inclusive for LGBTQ youth. It also would be a safe space for any student who had been bullied or simply felt lost in a large school. 

The school’s approach was so innovative that it was featured in national news media, including Time and People magazines and ABC News.

By 2026, schools and society in general have become more inclusive for LGBTQ students. How does Alliance fit into the education landscape now? 

Principal Lemon had been thinking about that since taking on the role at Alliance, and she spoke with Dr. Owen-Moore about the school’s own identity.

“I want it to be a place where peace and joy and love are,” Ms. Lemon said. “As I think about the vision/mission going forward, it’s this idea that we’re going to create future leaders who effect change through peace and through open dialogue.”

To get there, the new principal is focusing in part on stability for students and staff. School leaders changed frequently in recent years, and enrollment was down. “It’s been really tough for staff, and it’s been really tough for students,” Principal Lemon said.

“Community is sort of at the heart of what this was to begin with, and I think community is what’s going to bring it back to being a joyful place.”
- Principal Christine Lemon

So, the principal is planning assemblies every day for the first 20 days of school, “just to really build that sense of community back,” she said. An assembly might consist of icebreakers and getting acquainted, or setting expectations. 

Principal Lemon is starting to redevelop ties with community partners that had withered over the years, and she wants to expand restorative practices at the school from its single course to a class for every grade level. 

Her top priority, though, is safety. “I want to make sure everyone feels safe, because you can’t do anything else before that,” Principal Lemon said. Next, academics. Her plan for Alliance includes: 

Raising test scores. Curriculum, she said, is her passion; she was an English teacher, school support teacher, and International Baccalaureate coordinator before she was an assistant principal at Pulaski. She’ll work with the school’s instructional facilitator — a position that is part of a new grant-funded MPS initiative — to make sure curriculum and instruction align “and that we’re bringing love and culture into the classroom, too.”

Also, the district this school year is rolling out a new high school English language arts curriculum that is expected to increase reading proficiency.

“So hopefully the combination of all those things will really help the kids see and the teachers see that we really are moving toward a new vision,” Principal Lemon said. 

Boosting attendance. The principal will visit the families of absent students with her message: “We’re invested in you; please be invested in us. … Let us know what we can do to support and make sure kids are getting here.”

Ultimately, Ms. Lemon wants to organize new, engaging activities for the students after their half-day of classes on Wednesdays — such as volunteering, apprenticeships, work study, peace-building activities, or taking part in efforts led by M-Cubed, the partnership connecting MPS, Milwaukee Area Technical College and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee that provides students with pathways to and through higher education. 

Physical Changes at Alliance

The building housing Alliance was constructed as Lapham Park Social Center in the early 1900s. The floor plan, with its many unusual nooks, isn’t like a typical school’s. 

The principal’s changes to the layout are significant. They include:

Grouping all student and parent/guardian support services on the first floor. Volunteers moved hundreds upon hundreds of books from the library to its new home on the ground floor. One classroom on the first floor was moved to the second floor. 

The former library makes way for a main office, which the school lacked. The school secretary and parent coordinator will have desks there, and the space will be inviting for families. The principal’s office will be nearby, and the school psychologist, social worker, instructional facilitator, and special education supervisor all will be on the first floor, as well. 

“This becomes a floor where, if a parent has a question, everyone they would need to talk to is on the first floor,” the principal said. 

Having student resources on the first floor, such as the school psychologist, also gives students more privacy for conversations, Ms. Lemon noted. Students “have a quiet, safe space if they need something.” 

Better use of classroom space. Classes without windows are being moved to rooms that have windows. Math moved out of a second-floor room holding a small stage to make way for English. “English needs to go in here, so they can do some Shakespeare, some modern plays” on the stage, Principal Lemon said. It’s also where assemblies will be held. 

In addition, the first floor has new, welcoming colors. Paint in creamy linen and soft-green sage was donated to Alliance, the principal said, and the new colors will calm and unify the first floor. A small gallery on the first floor will be designated for student art.  

Repairing, Replacing, and Planning

The principal has taken stock of what’s broken and must be replaced. 

“Our kids deserve more, and our teachers deserve more,” Principal Lemon said. 

Some changes are for the future. Standing in a small room on the ground floor, the principal envisioned using it like a zen den, for students who need a moment to calm themselves instead of escalating their behavior. “Sometimes we all just need to take a minute, and then we can get back to it,” Principal Lemon said. 

One of the volunteers at Rebuilding Community Day was Chris Gruntzel, who is starting his 16th year at Alliance. A teacher of math, personal finance, employability skills, economics, and entrepreneurship, he’s looking forward to the change at Alliance and a renewed emphasis on the school’s original mission. 

“We’re an anti-bullying school set up to be a small environment,” he said, adding that some have misinterpreted Alliance’s role as an alternative school for at-risk students.

Principal Lemon recognizes the sentiment among school staff. “So many said, “We’ve lost the love and the purpose of why we’re here.” Some staff had applied to other schools, she said.

But, Principal Lemon said, “I feel like there’s hope. I feel like many of the people here are really invested in getting it back to a place that feels loving and joyful. And that’s half the battle. We’ll get academics, we’ll get our curriculum in line, we’ll get kids to where they need to be. But you have to have passionate people in place for that to happen. I feel like I have that.”

“That idea of joy and love, we’re going to bring that. That’s very exciting to me,” Ms. Lemon added.

Dr. Owen-Moore looks forward to what the new year will bring at the school she founded. "It's exciting to see the energy and enthusiasm around Alliance, once again. Young people still need safe and academically challenging schools, where they can be themselves and get a great education. I'm so grateful to Ms. Lemon for taking on that charge. You can tell that she is going to be great for Alliance. She is already re-energizing the school community in new ways, and I am so excited to see it and be part of it."