A Minnesota teacher who left his previous school district following an Alpha News report on sexually explicit public photos of him has returned to a Minnesota classroom.
Thomas Rosengren, a former sixth-grade teacher at Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City School District who was named a finalist for Minnesota’s 2026 Teacher of the Year award, is now a fifth-grade teacher at DaVinci Academy of Arts and Sciences in Ham Lake.
The charter school’s staff directory lists him under Thomas Dougherty-Rosengren. According to the Minnesota Department of Education’s website, Rosengren’s education license uses “Thomas James Rosengren” and not “Dougherty-Rosengren.”
However, according to a classroom display outside Rosengren’s current classroom at DaVinci Academy, he writes that students can just call him “Rosie.”
Rosengren controversy draws national attention
Rosengren became the subject of national attention in April after an Alpha News report revealed publicly accessible photographs showing him dressed in bondage gear and participating in simulated sex acts with several men during a sexually themed onstage performance.
The story was subsequently picked up by national media outlets and circulated widely on social media.
The public photos have since been removed from Facebook, but at the time of Alpha News’ report, they were readily accessible through a simple internet search. They were not behind a paywall or restricted site, meaning students — or anyone with an internet connection — could potentially find and view them.
Days after Alpha News first contacted Education Minnesota seeking comment about the images, the organization updated its Teacher of the Year finalists page to announce that Rosengren had withdrawn from consideration.
Shortly after Alpha News published its report, the Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City (ACGC) superintendent confirmed that Rosengren was no longer employed by the district.
Now, just four months later, Rosengren has surfaced at DiVinci Academy — a school where hundreds of students were pulled from classes in 2023 as parents protested an LGBTQ- and gender-focused curriculum that a parent confirmed to Alpha News remains in use.
“If you look at the curriculum, it is designed to be transformative to the culture of the school, and it appears it is also attracting staff of the same mindset who affirm such beliefs,” the parent told Alpha News on the condition of anonymity.
Explicit photos preceded withdrawal from Teacher of the Year contest
(Warning: Some readers may find the images in this article disturbing)
As Alpha News previously reported, Rosengren was one of 11 educators selected as finalists for Education Minnesota’s 2026 Teacher of the Year award.
At the time, he taught sixth-grade social studies and earth science at ACGC and served as the school’s theater director.
Alpha News subsequently reviewed then-publicly available photographs from Rosengren’s Facebook page showing him wearing just a leather bondage strap and speedo while competing in the 2019 “Mr. Minneapolis Eagle” contest.
Alpha News also reviewed then-publicly available Facebook photos showing Rosengren in a sexually themed performance with several men.
In one, Rosengren held a sign reading, “It’s feeding time on the farm. Cowboy Tommy is feeding the six piglets and bull.”
Another showed men removing Rosengren’s shirt, revealing leather bondage straps, and licking his neck.
Additional photographs showed Rosengren and several men simulating oral and anal sex acts on stage.
An online public profile published by The Leather Journal identified Rosengren as the 2019 “Mr. Minneapolis Eagle” contest winner and described him as “a boy of service” who had “been collared as a bratty boy since 2016.”
The profile also described Rosengren as “a writer, theater director, and educator.”
Alpha News contacted Education Minnesota about the publicly available material. Four days later, its Teacher of the Year finalists page was updated to state: “Thomas Rosengren has withdrawn from consideration for Minnesota Teacher of the Year.”
ACGC later confirmed that Rosengren was no longer employed by the district.
DaVinci previously faced parent protests over gender, LGBTQ curriculum
Rosengren’s hiring comes less than three years after DaVinci Academy faced a large parent protest over the use of curriculum addressing gender identity and LGBTQ issues in elementary classrooms.
In 2023, hundreds of students were absent from classes over two days as parents protested the school’s use of instructional materials from AmazeWorks, a St. Paul-based organization that provides what it describes as “anti-bias education.”
Parents told Alpha News at the time that they objected to elementary-age students being exposed to material addressing gender identity, gender fluidity and sexual orientation without what they believed was adequate parental notice.
Among the books available to teachers was “Jacob’s New Dress,” which addresses children who do not conform to traditional gender roles, and “When Aidan Became a Brother,” which tells the story of a transgender child.
DaVinci declines to say what it knew before hiring
Alpha News asked DaVinci whether administrators were aware of Rosengren’s publicly accessible sexually explicit photographs and the circumstances surrounding his departure from ACGC before hiring him. The school was also asked whether officials believe parents should have been informed about the controversy before the start of the school year.
DaVinci Academy confirmed to Alpha News that Rosengren began working at the school Aug. 10 and is currently employed as a fifth-grade teacher.
However, the school did not answer Alpha News’ questions about whether administrators knew of Rosengren’s previous employment at ACGC, the explicit publicly available photographs or the controversy surrounding his withdrawal from Teacher of the Year consideration before hiring him.
“The Academy does not maintain any additional public data responsive to your request,” the school said in a statement. “All other data responsive to your request maintained by the Academy are classified as private personnel data under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act.”
DaVinci said it therefore could not disclose that information.
Jenna Gloeb
Jenna Gloeb is an Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist, media producer, public speaker, and screenwriter. Most recently, she worked as a reporter and on-air host for CCX Media. Jenna is a Minnesota native and resides in the Twin Cities with her husband, son, daughter, and two dogs.
