Michael Dronen to Lead Technology for Minnetonka Public Schools

Dronen is currently serving as the Coordinator of Educational Technology and Innovation in the Stillwater Area School District, where he has been employed since 2005.

"We are very excited that Mike Dronen has agreed to become our Executive Director of Technology," shared Minnetonka Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Dennis Peterson. "He is an outstanding technology leader in Stillwater and we know he will bring his expertise, enthusiasm and leadership skills to take our excellent technology plan to even greater heights," 

In Stillwater, Dronen supported one of the state’s first and largest successful 1:1 laptop programs and put mobile technology into the hands of every instructional staff member in the district. Later this month, he will facilitate a national teacher institute on effective instructional practices for the “flipped classroom.” He has worked closely with elementary, middle and high schools to design technology plans and support site-based staff development, training and technology purchases.

He has broad experience in technology and has been selected to present at numerous local and national education technology conferences, including the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), as well as presenting internationally to audiences in Japan, Hong Kong and Australia. He serves on several regional education technology organizations and in 2011 received the TIES Minnesota Technology Leader Award. 

Dronen began his career as a middle school science teacher in Minneapolis Public Schools. He quickly advanced to Science Department Chair and teacher on special assignment (TOSA). He led a district-wide mentoring program for new science teachers, served as a building level Technology Coordinator and as the district level Technology Implementation Specialist, before assuming a leadership role for Stillwater Schools.His project management experiences, both in a large urban and a suburban school districts, in addition to his personnel and resource management knowledge, position him well to lead Minnetonka’s technology team.

In total, Dronen has more than 20 years of experience in educational technology with a strong vision for providing exceptional teaching and learning opportunities for students and staff.Dronen is certified in the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Best Practices, Version III 2010. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, Duluth with a Broad Area Science teaching license.