Kathryn Fishman-Weaver

Quick Snapshot

• Who she is: Educator, author, and school leader focused on inclusion and connection.
• Current role: Executive Director of Mizzou Academy (University of Missouri’s K–12 lab school).
• Big themes: Relationships, equity, student agency, and learning that works in real life (not just on paper).
• Known for: “Wholehearted” leadership and teaching frameworks, plus practical strategies for online, blended, and in-person learning.

Who Is Kathryn Fishman-Weaver?

Kathryn Fishman-Weaver is an educator and educational leader whose work centers on the human side of school:
belonging, inclusion, high expectations, and the everyday choices that shape whether students thrive or simply
comply. She has taught in public-school settings and has held leadership roles connected to global and
technology-mediated learning communities.

In her published work and professional leadership, Fishman-Weaver consistently returns to one core idea:
learning doesn’t start with contentit starts with relationships. Not the fluffy, poster-in-the-hallway version,
but the kind built through consistent practice: noticing students, honoring community knowledge, designing for
accessibility, and making sure “high expectations” don’t quietly turn into “high barriers.”

She also brings a distinctive blend of perspectives: special education advocacy, gifted education, equity-focused
curriculum work, and school leadership. That combination helps explain why her writing resonates across
audiencesteachers, school leaders, and familiesbecause it doesn’t pretend schools are one-size-fits-all.

Mizzou Academy and the “Lab School” Mindset

Fishman-Weaver serves as Executive Director of Mizzou Academy, a K–12 lab school affiliated with the University of
Missouri. Lab schools are built for learningabout learning. They often combine direct service to students with
teacher development, research partnerships, and innovation that can be tested, refined, and shared.

Mizzou Academy is known for global reach and flexible delivery models, including online and blended learning.
In a world where “online learning” can mean anything from inspiring community-building to “here’s a PDF, good
luck,” this setting matters. It creates space for Fishman-Weaver’s signature focus: building connection even when
students and teachers are separated by distance, language, time zones, or life circumstances.

Why that matters (especially now)

Many schools learnedsometimes painfullythat technology doesn’t automatically create learning. What it can do,
when used well, is expand access, create flexible pathways, and support students who don’t thrive in traditional
structures. But that only happens with intentional design, inclusive practices, and leadership that treats
relationships as a strategy, not a slogan.

The “Wholehearted” Thread: A Values-Based Way to Lead and Teach

The word “wholehearted” shows up repeatedly in Fishman-Weaver’s work for a reason. It’s not branding. It’s a
values-based stance: schools function best when we prioritize courage, justice, learning, and connectiontogether,
not as competing initiatives that fight for calendar space.

Wholehearted leadership isn’t “soft” leadership

In practice, “wholehearted” leadership means leaders commit to high expectations while also building the
conditions for students and educators to meet them. It asks leaders to pay attention to systems that exclude,
policies that accidentally punish neurodiversity, and routines that reward compliance more than curiosity.

It also means showing uprepeatedly

The most credible leaders aren’t the ones with the flashiest slogans. They’re the ones who consistently show up,
listen, adjust, and keep the work focused on students and the adults who support them. That focus on steady,
relational leadership is a hallmark of Fishman-Weaver’s approach.

Books and Big Ideas: What She’s Written (and What Readers Take Away)

1) Wholehearted School Leadership (2025)

This book frames leadership through four connected commitments: courage, justice, learning, and connection.
It’s designed to be usablenot just readableoffering strategies and reflective exercises for leadership teams.
The tone is frank and practical, with an emphasis on rewiring schools around what matters most: relationships and
equitable opportunities for students.

Takeaway: Leadership isn’t just about managing initiatives; it’s about shaping the moral and relational center of the
schoolso learning and belonging can co-exist.

2) Connected Classrooms (2022, with Stephanie Walter)

“Connected” here means more than having Wi-Fi. This book focuses on relationship-building across online,
blended, and in-person learning environments. It treats hybrid learning as an opportunity (not a backup plan) and
includes strategies for inclusive instruction, social-emotional learning support, and community-building.

Takeaway: The strongest learning environmentsdigital or physicalare designed around connection, clarity, and care.

3) Brain-Based Learning with Gifted Students (2020)

This work blends accessible neuroscience concepts with classroom activities for gifted learners in grades 3–6.
It emphasizes curiosity, metacognition, empathy, neuroplasticity, emotional regulation, and well-beingwithout
turning the brain into a buzzword.

Takeaway: Gifted education can deepen when students learn how learning worksand when teachers create space for wonder.

4) When Your Child Learns Differently (2019)

This book supports families navigating special education services with a tone that is both compassionate and
practical. It includes guidance on understanding the IEP process, advocating effectively, and maintaining high
expectations without losing sight of the child’s humanity (or the caregiver’s sanity).

Takeaway: Families can advocate with love and strengthwithout needing a law degree or a superhero cape.

5) Teaching Women’s and Gender Studies (Grades 6–8 and Grades 9–12, with Jill Clingan)

This curriculum-focused series provides lesson plans that help educators integrate women’s and gender studies
into middle and high school classrooms. The structure includes units organized around key concepts (such as
intersectionality, representation, resistance, and “artivism”), with teaching notes, reflection questions, and
materials that can fit across disciplines.

Takeaway: Students can learn to analyze power, identity, and history in ways that build both critical thinking and civic courage.

6) Wholehearted Teaching of Gifted Young Women (2018)

This book extends her “wholehearted” framework into the gifted education space, focusing on affirming learning
environments and the conditions needed for gifted young women to thrive.

Takeaway: High ability doesn’t cancel out vulnerability. Gifted learners benefit from instruction that honors identity, belonging, and agency.

Signature Focus Areas

Inclusive practices that don’t rely on “perfect students”

A consistent throughline in Fishman-Weaver’s work is inclusionnot as a placement decision, but as a daily
practice. That includes designing learning that reflects diverse identities, making participation accessible, and
ensuring policies don’t unintentionally exclude students who learn differently.

Gifted education as more than acceleration

In gifted contexts, her work emphasizes curiosity, metacognition, empathy, and well-beinghelping gifted
learners develop the habits and emotional skills needed for long-term thriving, not just short-term performance.

Family advocacy grounded in love and high expectations

In special education advocacy, she addresses a reality many caregivers know too well: the system can feel
intimidating. Her approach makes advocacy feel doable by breaking it into concrete stepswhile also validating
the emotional load that comes with caring for a child who learns differently.

Connected learning across online, blended, and in-person environments

Rather than treating online learning as “less than,” her work pushes schools to build relational infrastructure:
predictable communication, human-centered routines, culturally responsive instruction, and community-building
that reaches students where they are.

Curriculum as representation, responsibility, and possibility

Her women’s and gender studies curriculum work reflects a commitment to more complete stories of history and
identityhelping students learn to think critically and act ethically, while reducing marginalization.

Practical Takeaways You Can Use This Week

For teachers

• Start with connection routines: short check-ins, low-stakes discussion prompts, and community norms students help write.
• Teach students “how learning works”: simple metacognition tools (reflection, goal-setting, strategy sharing).
• Design for access: multiple ways to participate (voice, writing, visuals), clear scaffolds, and predictable supports.
• Use equity as a design lens: ask, “Who might be left out by this task?” before the lesson goes live.

For school leaders

• Audit your systems: discipline, grading, and attendance policies often signal “belonging” more than mission statements do.
• Protect collaboration time: connection among adults is a student-success strategy, not a luxury.
• Lead for courage and justice: make inclusion and belonging measurable priorities, not optional side projects.
• Make technology human-centered: choose tools that reduce friction and increase claritythen train staff well.

For families

• Document and organize: keep notes, dates, and examplesadvocacy is easier with clarity.
• Ask for shared goals: “What does success look like for my child this quarter?” is a powerful question.
• Hold high expectations and high support: the two belong together.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Kathryn Fishman-Weaver known for?

She is known for her work on inclusive school practices, people-centered learning across online/blended/in-person
settings, and “wholehearted” leadership and teaching frameworks that emphasize relationships, justice, and
student agency.

Is Kathryn Fishman-Weaver connected to Mizzou Academy?

Yes. She serves as Executive Director of Mizzou Academy, the K–12 lab school at the University of Missouri.

Which books should I start with?

If you lead a school, start with Wholehearted School Leadership. If you teach in hybrid/online settings, try
Connected Classrooms. If you’re a caregiver navigating special education supports, When Your Child Learns Differently
is often the best entry point.

Experiences Related to Kathryn Fishman-Weaver’s Work (Composite Examples)

The following experiences are composite, real-world-style examplesthe kind of situations educators, leaders,
and families commonly face. They’re written to show what Fishman-Weaver’s people-centered, inclusive ideas can
look like when the school day is messy, the email inbox is louder than your thoughts, and the copier is (once
again) “just warming up.”

Experience 1: A principal rewires meetings around connection

A middle school principal noticed the same pattern every month: staff meetings were packed with updates, but
teachers left feeling isolated and overwhelmed. Inspired by a “wholehearted” leadership lens, the principal
shortened announcements and shifted the agenda toward a single shared problem of practicelike improving
belonging for students who were frequently absent. Each department brought one student-centered observation,
one barrier, and one small experiment to try. Within weeks, teachers reported something subtle but huge: they
felt less like they were “getting through” the year and more like they were building something together. The principal
didn’t add more work; they made the work more human and more coordinated.

Experience 2: A hybrid teacher stops chasing “engagement” and starts building it

A high school teacher running a blended class kept hearing, “Kids just won’t participate online.” After shifting
to a people-centered approach (think: connected classroom design), she replaced a few long, high-stakes tasks
with smaller participation structures: weekly “two-sentence check-ins,” student choice boards, and peer feedback
routines with clear examples. She also made expectations painfully clear in the best way: a one-page “How to
succeed in this class” guide written in student-friendly language. Participation didn’t suddenly become perfect
it became predictable. Students knew how to show up, even when life was complicated.

Experience 3: A family advocacy moment becomes a partnership

A parent of a child with learning differences arrived at an IEP meeting feeling intimidated and exhausted. Instead
of trying to “win,” they used a calmer strategy: asking the team to define one priority goal and the supports that
would make it realistic. The conversation shifted from vague labels to practical planning. The parent also shared
a short strengths snapshotwhat their child loved, what helped at home, what triggered shutdown. The result was
a more specific plan with clearer progress markers and a shared commitment to high expectations and high support.
The family didn’t have to be “difficult” to be effective; they had to be clear, informed, and persistent.

Experience 4: Students learn justice through curriculumand action

In a social studies unit aligned with women’s and gender studies concepts, students explored representation and
intersectionality through media analysis and local community research. The teacher built in “artivism” as a
culminating optionstudents could create a piece of art, writing, or media that communicated a researched
message tied to a community issue. One student team focused on how school dress code policies affected
different groups of students. Their final product wasn’t a complaint; it was a proposal: clearer language, fewer
subjective enforcement moments, and a student advisory group to review policy impacts. The project didn’t solve
everything overnight, but it taught students a powerful lesson: learning can be a tool for understandingand for
responsible change.

These experiences reflect a central promise in Fishman-Weaver’s work: schools don’t have to choose between
kindness and rigor, or between relationship-building and academic outcomes. When leaders and educators design
systems that support belonging, clarity, and opportunity, students are far more likely to engage deeplyand to
grow into capable, courageous learners.

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