July 2021 - Grow Schools

You know that saying “people come into our lives for a season.” Well… Here is the story of the teacher/guidance counselor that I truly believe God put in my life as my Angel here on earth; her name is Kelly Stropp Lamerson.

As an individual growing up battling severe medical issues myself knowing just how precious life is and learning to appreciate each and every day as it’s given to us and to not live life in fear, I have learned to live my life that way the best I can. However, growing up in private schools my entire life where everyone knows each other, and my world being turned upside down junior year which led me to walk into my senior year having transferred schools to a public school yeah, I was fearful. Not knowing a single soul and going into the unknown of a senior year wasn’t what I planned.

Day one of school and Kelly walked into my life. Her genuine smile, compassion, and heart for teaching and students is the reason why I continued going to school every day because I knew things would get better. Kelly took me under her wing and guided me through my senior year. Not many teachers would take the time to go the extra mile to make sure students are taken care of let alone give them the feeling like we are human beings and that we do matter and we do belong. I looked forward to school because I knew I would be greeted with a smile and I knew someone. Eventually, I grew to know more people but, Kelly was still there whenever I needed her. I am honestly horrible at math and she took the time to help me strengthen my math skills and believe me I’m pretty sure she’s the most patent person I have ever met. She continues to inspire me and impact my life over a decade later and that’s how you know this teacher/guidance counselor impacted my life and is a good soul!

Watching her strive to not just make her classroom a better place but, striving to make the world a better place inspires me to do the same thing, and wanting to make sure people feel like they belong which is what Kelly does! Her genuine heart for others is one of a kind and we truly need more people like her in this world. I was a Majorette at the college I attended, and she came and supported me and watched me perform during pre-game and halftime.

During this pandemic, Kelly wasn’t sitting still. She was thinking of ways to help keep her high schoolers safe when they return back to school for in-person learning. So she started a donors choose and told her story and started to raise funds for freestanding sanitation stations so the kids would feel safe while returning back to school. I don’t think I could find just the right amount of words to express how proud I am of Kelly.

She is always going out of her way and striving to make a difference in the world around her which makes her a light, and she makes learning inviting and belonging for all students. Kelly thank you for taking me under your wing, thank you for impacting my life and making a difference in my life. Thank you for always striving to make this world and the teacher world a better place, you are one of a kind and I hope you never forget the impact you leave!

At Ivy Academia, middle school isn’t any less engaging or involved, earnest or big thinking. At Ivy Academia, middle school can be great!

Sandwiched between the earnestness of elementary school and the big thinking of high school — is middle school. Sometimes this age can be challenging — socially, academically, hormonally, even hygienically. Biology has guaranteed that! At Ivy Academia, middle school isn’t any less engaging or involved, earnest or big thinking. At Ivy Academia, middle school can be great!
Ivy Academia is small and nimble. We adapt — and fast. Our middle school families, staff and students are a small and stable community who work together as a cohesive family. Our middle school students are never lost in the shuffle and we adjust and engage quickly to meet every student’s needs.

School counselors are more vital than ever. At Ivy, we have a counseling department of three which is significant in a TK-12 school of 600 kids. Our lead, Counselor Lillian Galvez, and her team, are working hard to support our middle school students’ mental health, social and emotional well-being. Our counselors help Ivy’s sixth to eighth graders navigate the many larger complexities of this pandemic and their everyday lives — especially as they align with academic success and social-emotional well-being.

Ivy Academia Middle School

During last spring’s move to Distance Learning, our counseling team reached out to every Ivy Academia middle school family to see how the kids and families were doing. Our counselors provided resources for housing, job loss, meals, community resources, and anything our Ivy families needed at that time to help the students. A foundation of trust and community was established and built on and today our counselors meet online 1:1 with middle school students regularly. They also host small group meetings and online support clubs in order to keep middle school communication skills and interpersonal development front and center.

Ivy Academia middle school academically prepares students for the 21st century. Through our innovative curriculum and exceptional electives, our students become confident well-rounded leaders. Our middle school curriculum accelerates the lenses of cultural and career-college learning — and then propels our Ivy scholars into high school ready for the rigor and variety at their fingertips and feet.

Our smaller school creates space for individualized attention. Since the pandemic’s disruption, we have learned how to make our middle school’s online learning even more robust. And as a public charter school, our commitment to high productivity and academic excellence in middle school includes a full day of learning, even when online.

Our 6th- to-8th-grade teaching staff shines professionally and brings pride to our organization. Our Ivy middle school teachers can personalize instruction online to meet the needs and learning styles of each student — ensuring each student has a positive learning experience. Our highly qualified and well-trained teachers collaborate as middle school grade level teams to meet student needs in standards-based academics, high school rigor readiness, and much-needed life and cultural skills. These skills include problem-solving, innovation, creativity, and global literacy.

Ivy University for students in grades 6 – 8 provides students an opportunity to learn about resume writing and interview skills, business law, public speaking, leadership, management and customer service. When on-ground, our middle schoolers can take part in various clubs and sports.

Our goal for each sixth to eighth-grader is to create a challenging and comprehensive curriculum that is rich in academic depth, complexity and variety. We are very fortunate to be able to expand instructional time for students who need extra help while also offering enrichment classes to meet every middle schooler’s needs.

In today’s increasingly fast-paced workforce and society, our innovative and demanding middle school academic setting is extra valuable. We incorporate 21st Century entrepreneurial skills alongside social-emotional learning and rigorous academics, even when online. Our middle school students are prepared for success in high school, college, career, and beyond!

About Ivy Academia

It is the mission of Ivy Academia, a TK-12 tuition-free public charter school, to help each child reach his/her fullest potential. We cultivate an active village of students, parents, and community members to provide an individual, personal, and conceptual learning environment that enables each student to succeed in life. Create and innovate with Ivy Academia! Enroll now!

At ARCHES Academy, our commitment is to help each K-8 student achieve mastery of the standards by use of authentic learning experiences, coaching and mentoring, freedom of choice, and personal responsibility. Our methods produce outstanding individuals who not only demonstrate exceptional literacy in the arts and sciences, but mastery of self alongside true leadership ability.

Leadership is integrated into everything we do at ARCHES Academy. Leadership is a life skill and an ongoing opportunity for every student to explore and learn about who they are. We care so much about leadership, we organized a community event around it; Leadership Day is coming up on May 7!

ARCHES students sitting on rug

Leadership Day is an entirely student-led celebration of all that our ARCHES Academy students have learned in our Leader In Me program throughout the year. We expect to see songs, skits and demonstrations. It’s going to be a lot of fun and we hope every member of our ARCHES community — including current and prospective families — joins us.

Opportunities to develop and show leadership abilities abound at ARCHES. Our older students (our masters) are mentors to our younger students (our novices). Our students help on campus too, in the library, lunch room, as materials managers in PE and more.

We are Warriors at ARCHES and every student is expected to step up, in the best of ways! We teach goal setting, progress tracking, and the variety of methods to effectively communicate. Our students learn how to advocate for themselves — to express their wants and needs and to synergize with others and with their classrooms.

Our approach to education focuses on the humanities and sciences, on how to think rather than what to think. This honors each student’s personal interests and encourages problem-solving. We are holistic in that we endeavor to teach the whole child: heart, mind, body, and spirit. Our methods produce outstanding individuals who display incredible leadership ability. ARCHES Academy is enrolling K-8 now, Join us for the 2021-2022 school year and for Leadership Day on May 7!

About ARCHES Academy
Our commitment is to help each K-8 learner achieve mastery of the standards by use of authentic learning experiences, coaching and mentoring, freedom of choice, and personal responsibility. At ARCHES Academy, our educational approach produces outstanding individuals who not only have acquired exceptional literacy in the arts and sciences, but mastery over self and true leadership ability. ARCHES is growing! Enrolling K-8 tuition-free today!

Hello my name is Patrice Pickett. I am an educator, and have been for 17 years. I am fortunate to have been blessed with many awesome teachers throughout my life. I believe that everyone that comes in your life is there for a blessing or a lesson. There are some that are both!

The blessing and lesson in my life came when I attended public school for the first time. I had been in catholic school from preschool through 2nd grade. I loved my school because I had the same classmates for four years and I knew all the teachers. It was like a bubble of protection. Abruptly the school closed a few weeks before 3rd grade was to begin. My parents reluctantly sent me to my assigned public school, Clear Creek Elementary. I was a ball of nervous, anxious energy. In my mind public school was the end of the world. I did not know what to expect. What if I didn’t make friends? What if I didn’t wear the right clothes or shoes? What if I didn’t like my teacher? Or even worse, what if my teacher didn’t like me? My 8 year old brain was full of questions and outrageous concerns.

However, from the 1st day of school to the last day of school I was proven wrong. Ms Plummer welcomed me with open arms and an even bigger open heart. We had a combination class of 2nd and 3rd grade students. We also had a wonderful teacher assistant named Ms. Smith. They worked together like a well oiled machine. They taught us not only the academics, but also how to be a family. We learned about honesty, integrity, compassion, and empathy.

This is the year I began my lifelong love of books from Ms. Plummer. She made every book come to life. We read chapter book after chapter book. We would all hang on to every word. I loved Ms Plummer and we all knew she loved us dearly. Kids don’t always remember what you said or did, but they remember how you made them feel!

We all did our best in that class, not just to please her, but for ourselves. I admired the way she encouraged us and gave us self-motivation and drive. She had a story or anecdote for every situation. Every child had a voice in her class. Never before had I felt so empowered and heard(even in my comfortable bubble at my former school).

That year I knew in my heart and soul that I wanted to be a phenomenal teacher just like Ms. Plummer. I left Clear Creek after 3rd Grade and never visited again. Then one day in my Junior year of college, I was assigned to do a field study at a local elementary school. Yes I was elated to be assigned to Clear Creek. Upon entering the school smelled exactly as I remembered…like chocolate milk! In my mind, I did the math, it had been 13 years since I left Clear Creek. I thought it will be nice to visit, but there’s no way Ms Plummer or Ms. Smith will still be working there. I went to the office to sign and find out which teacher I’d be assigned. I had my head down when I heard, “Patrice Agurs is that you”…it was Ms Smith! She was the secretary in the front office! I couldn’t believe she still worked there! We had a great reunion! She said what until Ms. Plummer sees you! I was speechless, I couldn’t believe they were both still working at Clear Creek! As soon as Ms Smith took me to Ms Plummer’s class she recognized me and the reunion started all over again! I was of course able to be assigned to her class for the rest of the semester.

For the next eight weeks, she took me under her wings and taught me all her tricks of the trade. She taught me how to motivate, guide, instruct and discipline with love. I learned so much in those 8 weeks.

Today, I am an amazing teacher just like Ms Plummer! I hope to inspire my students at least an inkling of the way Ms. Plummer inspired me!!

For years, I worried about my grandson Dion’s challenges with learning. He did not respond to reading phonics lessons, he had problems deciphering compound sounds, and he struggled to read and write. By seventh grade, I was so concerned about his delays that I put him in a new school: West Hawaii Explorations Academy, a STEM Charter School in Hawaii.

A teacher there, Erik Swenson, assessed Dion’s learning style and brought him to an exciting educational platform. Instead of holding Dion captive in a classroom, where my grandson had always felt unsure of himself, Mr. Swenson took Dion outside to study live marine animals on campus. Mr. Swenson taught my grandson how to make scientific observations after allowing him to visit and feed the animals.

When Mr. Swenson worked one-on-one with my grandson, he let him read about marine animals, particularly sharks, an exciting book subject my grandson willingly read out loud.

Dion not only became a better reader, but he learned to include scientific observations in his writing. Mr. Swenson gave Dion encouraging feedback rather than focusing on his mistakes whenever my grandson wrote a paper.

Mr. Swenson allowed Dion to experience regular outdoor movement while learning, and he integrated marine science projects into Dion’s classroom assignments. My grandson’s confidence was steadily growing as he read and wrote in ways he had never done before.

Dion joined in with his classroom projects with more enthusiasm, and he began to perceive himself as a capable learner. By the end of the school year, Dion had completed several reports, including marine life anatomical reports with drawings, history reports, science projects, and he won first place in Mr. Swenson’s creative writing contest.

Mr. Swenson changed the trajectory of my grandson’s learning. While Dion may have challenges in his future, he now knows how to rise above them and excel as a unique and capable learner. This is a lifelong lesson that only a gifted teacher can impart.

About Mr. Swenson

Mr. Swenson holds a master’s degree in special education from Chaminade University. He has been teaching for thirteen years. His interests are surfing, diving, fishing, and hiking. Mr. Swenson leads a surf team from West Hawaii Explorations Academy.

At Empower Language Academy, a public K-6 charter school, we recognize young brains are prime for absorbing. We love seeing how quickly and excitedly our students explore their learning. Our holistic Spanish immersion program is a positive and nurturing two-way learning environment that elevates both native Spanish speakers and native English speakers equally.

By teaching our Kindergarten to grade six students in both Spanish and English, we teach our students multiple ways to communicate and synthesize their learning. We teach all subjects — including a standards-based and writing-centered curriculum — in both languages to foster bilingual and biliterate abilities. Our academic program fosters literacy via our rigorous math and science curriculum as well as our integration of the arts and self-expression.

As we bridge elementary school content areas in two languages, we achieve top academic outcomes. We holistically approach our teaching so that our interdisciplinary thematic units weave our dual language learnings together.

How it Works & Why It’s Awesome

We firmly believe in every child’s inherent desire to communicate and we both honor and encourage this growth. In grades K and 1, we teach 80% in Spanish and 20% in English. Each year we teach 10% more in English and 10% less in Spanish so that by the time our students are in 4-6th grades, we land at 50/50.

Empower Language Academy teacher and students in huddle

Our students can read and write in their native languages and in their second language. Our native Spanish speakers are prepared to navigate complex texts and testing in English, too.

80% of parents desire second language immersion and foreign language options for their children. Ultimately, this multilingualism offers better jobs, increased pay and more professional opportunities around the world. Bilingualism and biliteracy, courtesy of immersive schools, boost multicultural awareness and respect for diversity to new levels. Our students can understand nuance, social situations and can engage in professional business ethics in multiple cultural situations.

Mind, Muscles, Heart

Centrally located in Linda Vista, we used to call ourselves San Diego’s best kept secret. We’re a thriving tuition-free K-6 public charter school, teaching Spanish immersion to both native English and native Spanish speakers alike. Our small classes, highly-qualified teachers and appreciation for fitness and healthy lifestyles make us a truly unique educational opportunity. We focus on character education at our small community school, supporting our students and families — like a family.

We focus on ‘mind, muscles and heart’ at our school. Mind is our robust academics and dual immersion teaching that prepares our students for exciting secondary education, college options, and meaningful careers — anywhere in the world.

Muscles refers to our focus on fitness and good health. We offer CrossFit Kids classes in addition to PE and recess. Focusing on 10 different fitness domains, our students explore strength, agility, flexibility, balance and more — while at school. We have an onsite school garden and healthy school lunches –because we know kids that move, move the world! Even our school uniforms affirm our love for healthy exercise and healthy living.

Heart is our small community. We are a family here at Empower Language Academy. We offer compassionate character education and foster vital leadership skills and self-confidence alongside our Spanish immersion schooling. Our students are seen and heard for who they are — and our students regularly show empathy to newcomer students learning in a new language. They’ve all been there. Join our growing family! Enrolling now for the 2021-2022 school year.

About Empower Language Academy

Empower Language Academy innovates in immersive dual language learning, fitness and technology to create global citizens. Our holistic approach to Spanish immersion empowers a generation of creative thinkers and effective communicators to lead healthy and fit lifestyles. Our tuition-free public charter school serving grades K-6 is a caring community; providing students from all backgrounds with an educational experience that honors multilingualism, critical thinking, and fitness. Join us in convenient Linda Vista. Enrolling now!

Since 2017, Charter School Capital has held an annual essay contest celebrating exceptional teachers. We call it the Dewey Awards, in celebration of Mr. Richard Dewey – a teacher who provided exceptional mentorship to our founder and CEO Stuart Ellis. Every year we get a brilliant selection of stories written by students from charter schools all over the nation. This year’s winners are featured here. But each of these stories is worth sharing.

This week we bring you a story written by Lucas Harman, about his fourth-grade teacher at NYOS Charter School in Austin, Texas.

I remember really wanting to stay in the same teacher’s class as I was entering fourth grade. At our school, NYOS, you had two years with the same teacher in repeat until middle school. I had one teacher in Kindergarten and 1st Grade. Then another in 2nd and 3rd. And finally, one in 4th and 5th. And I really wanted the same teacher. A lot of my friends wanted her, and I wanted to be in their class. Some of their older siblings had been with her and had heard a lot of positive things.

However, while most of my friends ended up in that class, I went to a new teacher’s class. I didn’t really have any familiar friends, and I didn’t know her very well, besides some occasions throughout the last year or so. But instantly I realized, even at the young age of 9 and 10 in 4th and 5th grade, that this new teacher was a phenomenal teacher. Like I said, I didn’t really know anyone in that class, but over those small, quick two years, she instantly bonded us tighter than atoms (which I didn’t learn in her class, more like 7th or 8th grade. If only she did, and I might understand all that stuff a little more.)

I am close friends to many of kids from that class even now almost four years later, and I am very grateful for that. My 4^th grade teacher was and I’m sure still is a fantastic teacher. People and teachers always say they try to make learning fun, but I have seen few to actually fully succeed. But she definitely did.

She was very engaging in her lessons and taught me so many things. She also had the perfect level of tolerance. Obviously not comparing her to an old grandmother, but her level of strict well was perfect, and a lot like a classic grandmother. She always expected the best of us, which brought out the best of us, and she made sure we were always kind to each other. Like I said, her lessons were always engaging, but she also made other great activities. I remember she would occasionally have us all make a meal together. We made some killer cheesy orzo, and it was a great teamwork experience. My fourth-grade teacher is a fantastic teacher.

She includes her students, makes them good people, teaches them efficiently and makes it very entertaining, and is like I said, just a plain legit teacher. I have so much respect for her, and I am absolutely positive my classmates do as well. She has definitely shaped me to become as good of a person as I can be. My fourth-grade teacher is great teacher. But an even better person.

Since 2017, Charter School Capital has held an annual essay contest celebrating exceptional teachers. We call it the Dewey Awards, in celebration of Mr. Richard Dewey – a teacher who provided exceptional mentorship to our founder and CEO, Stuart Ellis. Every year we get a brilliant selection of stories written by students from charter schools all over the nation. This year’s winners are featured here. But each of these stories is worth sharing.

This week we bring you a story written by Cynthe Burbidge, about Mr. Lacey of Faith Academy, in Manila, in the Philippines.

The wall of hot sticky moisture greeted my 9-year-old body as I stepped out of the cool air-conditioned van, backpack on my shoulders, and my unkempt long mousy hair still plastered to my neck despite the twenty-minute respite from the heat the ride to school provided. I was still getting used to this humidity, among other strange and unfamiliar encounters that daily racked my senses.

I looked around me, shy and stunned by the swarm of students flooding the hallways. The last two years of my life had been spent in a van very different than the one I was exiting. Most of my education up to this point had been with my mother as my teacher and the van as my schoolhouse. We were missionaries, we spent two years raising enough support to make this trek across the world to another country, two years visiting churches, sleeping in unfamiliar beds, and eating unfamiliar dinners with unfamiliar faces. You would think unfamiliar had started to become familiar to me.

But this was a whole different level of strangeness. Everything from taste to touch to smell was new.

And it had been three years since I had stepped foot in a schoolroom. As I stepped up those tenacious cement stairs to my classroom, my palms were sweaty but not from the heat, and my heart raced in my chest. I didn’t know what to do here.

At that moment, the warmest smile I had ever seen in my life greeted me. It was my 4th-grade teacher, Mr. Lacey. I’ll never forget his balding head and glasses and that gentle grin of his. Somehow, he knew today was new to me and his very persona emanated warmth and welcome and pleasure. He was delighted to see me!

He quickly ushered me to my desk and showed me the pencil sharpener and the class pet and the place to set my backpack. And he handed me a freshly sharpened pencil and asked me to write my name on a placard for my desk.

I am not precisely sure what went through my head that day. I don’t recall my train of thought. But that day, the day I was greeted by Mr. Lacey, I gave myself a new name. No longer would I use the childish nickname I had been known by all my life. Here I would remake myself, and no one here in this classroom would know the difference. Here I would embrace the new, become the new, and new would no longer scare me. I marked that placard brightly and clearly for all to see — here in this land of unfamiliar, Mr. Lacey’s welcome gave me the courage to bridge the unknown and to begin what would become the rest of my life.

Cynthe Burbidge, now – and then.

Magic City Acceptance Academy (MCAA) is Alabama’s first LGBTQ-centered charter school. After receiving three different rejections from the Alabama Public Charter School Commission, the school plans to open its doors in Birmingham to students beginning Fall 2021. MCAA was born out of the need to provide kids who face bullying, violence, and a greater risk of suicide with a safe, inclusive learning environment.[CallOutBox bgcolor=”ltblue”]“I can’t wait to hear the laughter and joy that will be in this space. Also, I’m so excited to see the passion that students will start to ignite in themselves once they see what education can do and what is possible for their lives.”
– Charity Jackson, Chief Academic Officer, Magic City Acceptance Academy[/CallOutBox]

The learning model the school embraces is project-based learning, which is moves away from rote learning and allows students to explore subjects conceptually, allowing for creativity and critical thinking.

“We’re looking at servicing the whole student, from academic to the whole being that is in front of us.” – said Charity Jackson, the school’s chief academic officer, in a recent interview.

The school has a strong commitment to the social-emotional learning process. The school leaders want to go beyond academics, fostering learning on self-management, self-awareness, decision-making, relationship skills and social awareness.

As Birmingham’s premier LGBTQ charter school, MCAA plans to serve 6th through 12th-grade students. The school is purposely designed to provide not only LGBT students but all students with an inclusive learning environment that prioritizes trauma-informed instruction while making all students feel seen and safe.

The need to give marginalized students a safe learning environment plus the tools they need to succeed is a trait that diverse charter schools all around the country share.

LGBTQ-Affirming Charter Schools are Thriving

MCAA isn’t alone in its efforts to provide LGBTQ a safe haven. The Albert Einstein Academy is another example of an LGBTQIA-affirming charter school. Located in Cleveland, Ohio, the school aims to create as a safe space for students of all backgrounds and identities.

Another charter school designed to support LGBTQ students is The Alliance School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It’s possibly the oldest, longest-running charter school with such a focus. Established in 2008, the school received a charter school excellence award in 2011 and continues to thrive.

Although there aren’t many existing LGBTQ-affirming charter schools, public school districts around the country have stepped up their efforts to support marginalized students by hosting inclusive events, implementing safety programs for LGBTQ+ youth, and providing resources. For good reasons, there is a growing movement to protect LGBTQ youth in schools.

Schools around the country were hit hard by the effects of the pandemic. Traditional public and charter schools alike were forced to adapt to distanced learning, train teachers and staff, and ensure student’s success during an unfamiliar time. Although students and parents learned to adjust to the “new normal,” now that more states are reopening and encouraging students to return to the class, many wonder how the pandemic has impacted the future of learning.

Why Charter Schools Performed So Well During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Charter schools already struggled to receive equal funding to traditional public schools before the pandemic. So, it came as no surprise that charter school administrators were prepared to rally for the resources their students and staff needed during the pandemic.

Despite not receiving the same treatment by local school boards compared to traditional public schools, many charter schools were better prepared to transition to virtual learning. Successful charter schools attribute the smooth transition to three reasons:

Charter schools are less bureaucratic, which allows for easier decision-making.
Teachers at charter schools have more experience dealing with time-sensitive situations.
Charter schools rely more on technology than most traditional public schools.

While traditional public schools grappled with remote learning and ever-changing health policies, charter schools “made rapid leaps from the classroom to the cloud.” A charter school in the Bronx celebrated a huge milestone for the class of 2021 amid the pandemic: all 65 graduating seniors got accepted into college. So, as you can see, despite the challenges schools faced due to COVID-19, charter schools still found a way to rise above.

Lessons Learned: Will Virtual Learning Stay With Us?

Charter schools are presented with many choices when it comes to their reopening plans in the fall. You’ve come this far, so you’re probably wondering what will become of virtual learning as COVID-19 cases fall around the country. Many charter schools have already come forward with their reopening plans and safety protocols for the fall.

Many charter schools’ post-COVID reopening plans include virtual learning as an option for students, and for a good reason. Despite the push by school districts to get kids back into physical classrooms, one poll by the University of Southern California shows that parents are satisfied with remote and hybrid learning, and 42% of the parents surveyed even said they preferred remote lessons for their kids.

It’s unclear that virtual learning is here to stay forever, but it’s probably in your best interest to include virtual and hybrid learning options in your charter school’s post-COVID reopening plans.

Post-COVID: Reopening School Buildings to In-Person Learning

There are over 3 million charter school students in the country, and your charter school must be taking the proper steps to protect every student and staff member. School administrators are faced with tough decisions when it comes to reopening plans post-COVID. Juggling the opinions of parents, state politicians, and teacher unions can make it difficult for charter schools to find a reopening plan that suits everyone.

Still, charter schools must work through logistical challenges to promise a safe return for students in the fall. If your charter school is struggling to source adequate resources or create a safety plan, we suggest you look to charter schools that have successfully reintroduced in-person learning.

Social Justice, a charter school in Washington, D.C., reopened its doors to students in the fall of 2020. Although they still offer hybrid learning options, school leaders report that the following has helped ensure a safe in-person return:

Strategic planning
Small class sizes
Staggered schedules
Strict safety protocols

The Department of Education (DOE) released a handbook that provides charter schools a detailed road map for reopening that we advise you to incorporate into your charter school’s strategies. Consider the following methods suggested by the DOE when mapping out your charter school’s reopening plans:

Include parents, teachers, and staff in the strategic planning process
Implement COVID-19 safety protocol for food distribution
Measure student’s social and emotional well-being through the use of surveys
Ensure school safety and inclusiveness by prioritizing creating a safe environment that supports and responds to the trauma students experienced due to the pandemic

No one is quite sure what the world will look like post-COVID. Whether virtual learning is here to stay is impossible to answer, but one thing is for sure. Charter schools are presented with the unique opportunity to create a reopening plan that prioritizes both student safety and academic success.