Category: Charter School Growth

Genesee STEM Academy Charter School Expansion
We’re thrilled to share some fantastic news with you about the inspiring facility growth of one of our charter school customers, Genesee STEM Academy. Genesee STEM Academy is located in Flint, Michigan and is a top-tier K-9 Charter School authorized by Saginaw Valley State University. Last year, we worked closely with Genesee STEM Academy to complete their Phase I charter school expansion and now we’ve just helped them complete Phase II of their facility growth, adding an additional 14,300 square feet! This newest phase increases their available space with 13 classrooms, four administrative offices, student and faculty bathrooms, and upgrades to their auditorium.
We’re always thrilled to be a part of the growth and success of charter schools and help them better serve students – and their communities. We also know that they’re ecstatic about taking control of their own destiny.
This successful charter school expansion would not have been possible without the strong partnership between Charter School Capital and the dedicated team at Genesee STEM: including—but certainly not limited to—Laura Legardye, Rita Cheek, and Pasquale Battaglia.
At Charter School Capital, we understand that access to adequate charter school facilities continues to be one of the top challenges facing charter leaders today. There are currently more than 1 million students on charter school waitlists around the country and a relative lack of accessible financing options for charter facilities needs. In order to reach and teach more students and reduce these waitlists, charter schools require state of the art facilities that allow them to continue to build quality educational programs for student success.
It’s our mission to help charter schools with growth capital and facilities financing. Because we partner exclusively with charter schools, we understand the operational challenges their leaders face and can deliver financial resources charter schools need to maintain stability and grow. By leveraging the support of our team, charter leaders can stay focused on the school’s most important mission – educating students.
All of us at Charter School Capital are sending Genesee STEM Academy our heartfelt congratulations on their inspirational growth and success!

Do you need to expand, renovate, or move your charter school?  We’d love to support you. It’s our mission to help you educate more students, so we focus on providing products and services that enable you to meet – and exceed – both your growth and facility goals. When you succeed, we succeed—it’s that simple.
We’ve reached out to our network of charter school experts for best practices and strategies for success at every stage of maturity. So, whether you’re just beginning the process of starting up a charter school, looking to expand or trying to prioritize your next steps, download our Charter School Growth Manual to get expert tips and pitfalls to avoid as you grow.

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The National Alliance of Public Charter Schools is continuing their ongoing work to address common misunderstandings about charter schools, such as charter school funding. Their first campaign launched was “The Truth about Charter Schools,” which focused on myths repeated and the actual facts about charter schools. They created infographics and other materials shared across social media and advocacy outreach to various states that illustrated how these myths create confusion about charter school funding, what charter schools are and the important part they play in serving educational needs of students.
Their latest effort, #ChartersWork, addresses the current state of charter schools within today’s political climate. Even with the monumental growth over the past five years (three million students attending nearly 7,000 charter schools), the parent demand for more school choice goes unmet and there are still more than one million students on charter school waiting lists.
We are happy to support the National Alliance’s latest efforts toward busting common myths about charter schools. Stay tuned for our own series of Myths and Facts related to charter schools, their structure, their funding, and their facilities options.
 
 
 
 

Charter School Capital is excited to announce that its facilities arm, American Education Properties (AEP), has acquired five Florida charter school facilities, securing long-term occupancy and opportunity for the schools’ expansion via charter school facilities financing.
“It is immensely gratifying to positively impact the future of 4,065 students in a single transaction,” said Stuart Ellis, president and CEO of Charter School Capital. “After months of due diligence, we were delighted to arrive at terms that provide five charter schools in Florida with the peace of mind that comes in knowing their facilities are securely theirs to operate with a partner willing to fund growth and expansion for years to come.”
Gabriel Amiel and Arnaud Sitbon, principals of ESJ Capital Partners, stated, “A transaction of this magnitude represents ESJ’s largest charter school sale to date, and confirms our early belief in Florida’s charter school growth. We are pleased to work with the Charter School Capital team to collectively commit to the long term path of charter school education.”
The charter schools, operated by four different charter management organizations (CMOs) encompass a total of 295,992 square feet over 38 acres in Broward, Indian River and Hillsborough Counties. Charter schools operating in the facilities include Renaissance Charter School at Plantation, Imagine Charter and Middle School at Broward, Imagine School at South Vero, Championship Academy of Distinction–Davie Campus, and Kid’s Community College Riverview South.
Today, more than 1 million students find themselves on waiting lists for their local charter schools. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools continues to highlight the lack of facilities options available to charter schools as a major issue charter leaders face. To meet this demand, charter schools require facilities that address the unique growth needs of each school and community and require access to capital to expand. Charter School Capital focuses solely on charter school needs, providing customizable facilities financing options to charter schools. Charter leaders retain control of their buildings and are afforded the flexibility to make the modifications necessary to expand their enrollment and academic programs.
Looking for more information about facilities expansion? Get in touch with our team at GrowCharters@charterschoolcapital.com.

Join us on Facebook Live for Growth Strategy and Facilities Financing knowledge with:

  • Dr. Darlene Chambers, Senior Vice President for Programs and Services at the National Charter Schools Institute
  • Mike Morley, President and CEO American Charter Development
  • Clint Satow, Vice President of Operations Performance Academies
  • Stuart Ellis, President and CEO Charter School Capital

olive-grove-logoThe Charter School Capital team sends congratulations to Olive Grove Charter School’s expansion in San Luis Obispo, California. Open since the beginning of the 2016/17 school year, this learning center joins Olive Grove’s five other Southern California locations.
Olive Grove Charter Schools have roughly 300 students enrolled including a mixture of home-schooled and independent study students. The mission of Olive Grove Charter School is to plan, monitor, and assist in the education of students K-12 in a home or blended school learning environment enabling them to speak, read, write, use technology, and calculate effectively to become self-motivated, competent, and life-long learners.  The Olive Grove Charter Schools will provide students with the necessary resources to achieve success and meet state standards in core academic subjects appropriate to their level.  Additionally, students will become career/college ready upon completion of the program.  This will be achieved in a collaborative effort with parents as primary deliverers of the educational program, certificated teachers and the community.
Charter School Capital is excited to work with Olive Grove to meet their expansion goals by utilizing our working capital that aids in charter school financing.
“I have been working with Laura Mudge and her team at Olive Grove for almost a year to make this happen,” explained Donna Kopman, Client Relationship Manager at Charter School Capital. “We are so happy to see all their hard work come to fruition and see the positive outcomes from our charter school financing tools.”
You can read more about Olive Grove Charter Schools’ expansion in a recent article from The Tribune and images below of Olive Grove students.
olive_grove_bio-lab-3 olive-grove_zahran-moore olive-grove_ella-magana-learning

New Designs funded by Charter School CapitalFacing key challenges in operating your charter school? Want to hear what other charter leaders are doing to aid in their school operations? Join us to discuss growth strategies for charter schools on Tuesday, October 4th at 9:30 a.m. PST/12:30 p.m. EST.
Our session will focus on the three core areas of growth – start-up, expansion and maturity – and what the key challenges and best practices are at each stage of growth. Learn how to work through operational issues, expanding teachers and staff, upgrading programs and technology, facilities options, and funding for charter schools.

Register

Featured Speakers:
Kendell Walton, Founder & President of Walton Business Management Solutions
Kendell Walton has a decade of experience helping companies with financial management in both the private and non-profit sectors. Kendell became involved in the charter school movement in 2010, and has worked with charter schools across multiple states, providing financial advice, budgeting supervision, and overseeing operational and facilities acquisition efforts.
Stuart Ellis, President & CEO, Charter School Capital 
Stuart is the President and CEO of Charter School Capital, the nation’s leading provider of growth capital and facilities financing to charter schools nationwide. The company has provided in excess of $1.2 billion in support of 500+ charter schools educating more than 550,000 students across the country.

Register Today

What you will learn:

  • Best practices for growth and replication
  • Funding options specific to your growth stage
  • Lessons learned from charter school leaders

national-school-choice-week-charter-school-2Across the country, today’s charter schools need better access to charter school funding for working capital and facilities financing at all stages of growth. Having reliable sources of charter school funding when needed allows schools to hire teachers, purchase textbooks, upgrade classroom technology, and expand the school’s facilities footprint so charter leaders can focus on what’s most important – educating students.
Working exclusively with charter schools, Charter School Capital understands the daily pressures charter leaders face. Our team works with school leaders to develop the best strategies matched to the school’s unique financial needs. By providing funding for charter schools, we’re empowering you. We give you access to the working capital and facilities financing options you need to stay focused on education, so every student has the opportunity to become someone incredible
Let us help you in planning for your school’s future.
Our team is excited to learn more about your charter school needs. Set up a one-on-one with our client services team to find out how we can help your school. Call 877-272-1001 or email GrowCharters@charterschoolcapital.com.
Want more information on growth capital and facilities financing? We offer information on growth strategies, facilities financing options, student enrollment marketing, and more.

ncsw_logo_2016-01-1It’s National Charter Schools Week! Join Charter School Capital as we celebrate the nearly 3 million public charter school students along with all the teachers, administrators and staff across 42 states plus the District of Columbia. The growth of the charter movement during the past 25 years, since the first charter law implemented in Minnesota, has been incredible, from nearly 2,000 students attending public charter schools in 2000-2001 school year to almost 7,000 enrolled this school year.
There are many ways you too can celebrate charter schools this week. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools offers a host of tools you can access, including infographics, detailed one-sheets around the myths and facts about charters, to templates for press releases your school can use now. There’s also a big showing across social media – #CharterSchoolsWeek! You can access social avatars and other social icons from the National Alliance as well. Easy to download and then use across your own social pages in celebration of National Charter Schools Week. Show your support and engage.
“Though (public charter schools) only account for roughly 7% of public schools in the United States, they make up 1/3 of the top 100 schools in both the U.S. News and Washington Post lists.” ~ Nina Rees, CEO, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (Charter Schools Stack Up Well, U.S. News & World Report)
The team at Charter School Capital is celebrating and honoring public charter schools this week. Check out our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Slideshare, and other social pages for ongoing posts, quotes, infographics, and more. Tell us what you think about charter schools.
Check back to our blog and social pages this week for more around National Charter Schools Week. If you haven’t signed up yet for our blog RSS or to get regular information from our team, sign up today!

Foothill Leadership Academy 2When Emily and Ian McVey decided to open a charter school, their primary focus was to bring an innovative education approach to their hometown. As they worked to turn their dream of Foothill Leadership Academy into a reality, they faced the same challenge many new or expanding charter schools face – a funding gap. They had to open the school’s doors before receiving state per pupil funds needed to operate. They immediately turned to Charter School Capital to accelerate their PENSEC funding to aid in growth.
“We wouldn’t be here without Charter School Capital. That’s really the bottom line,” says Emily McVey, founding director of Foothill Leadership Academy.
As a new school based in Sonora, California, Foothill Leadership Academy had access to California’s Pupil Estimates for New or Significantly Expanding Charters (PENSEC) reporting program, which allows new or expanding charter schools to gain access to expedited federal and state funds. But even this program required them to prepare for opening months before they would receive charter school funding. Using Foothill Leadership Academy’s PENSEC report, Charter School Capital was able to step-in and deliver working capital to the school well in advance of California’s release of available funds.
“Without Charter School Capital, we would’ve never been able to open our doors because we weren’t getting any funding,” McVey says of her 130-student charter school. “As such a small school, the amount of funding we get is so small compared to other schools, but that funding made all the difference.” Foothill Leadership Academy
Foothill Leadership Academy draws on a few innovative educational techniques, which combined make for a wholly unique educational experience for their students. “We’re a Leader in Me school, with a curriculum based off of Stephen R. Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” McVey explains. “We’re also an arts integrated school, so our students are fully engaged, not just sitting and listening.”
This approach has been so effective that Foothill has been operating at capacity since opening nearly three years ago, with a waitlist nearly as long as their attendance sheet.
The McVeys believe that operating a smaller school, with high teacher-to-student class ratios and small class sizes is a major component to Foothill’s success. As such, their charter school growth path includes opening additional locations, while keeping the footprint of each individual school fairly small. To keep their organization on this track, they’re going to continue to rely on PENSEC funding and an ongoing partnership with Charter School Capital.
With Charter School Capital, “it’s not just about the charter school funding,” McVey says, “It’s about the relationships I’m creating, and how I feel safe, and that what I’m doing is important to Charter School Capital. It’s very important to me, to feel that I can trust that relationship.”
CSC_Logo_Thumb_WhiteAre you with a new charter school in California? Existing charter school expanding grades? Give us a call about your growth needs and we can help you tap in to accelerated PENSEC funding to fuel your growth. Email us at GrowCharters@charterschoolcapital.com or call 877-272-1001. Our team is waiting to learn more about your school!

New_Designs_053As the saying goes, “if you’re not growing, you’re dying…” Learn the challenges and best practices for charter school growth on our webinar next week Tuesday 4/5 at 9:00 a.m. PDT, featuring Sandro Lanni, CEO of CSMC and Stuart Ellis, CEO of Charter School Capital.

Register today! 

Speakers:

Stuart Ellis, President & CEO, Charter School Capital
Stuart is the Co-founder and CEO of Charter School Capital, the nation’s leading provider of growth capital and facilities financing to charter schools nationwide. The company has provided in excess of $1 billion in support of 500+ charter schools educating more than 500,000 students across the country.

Sandro Lanni, CEO, CSMC
Sandro Lanni became involved in the charter school movement in 1997 with writing a charter petition as a committed parent, and ultimately opening a charter school in Temecula, Ca. Mr. Lanni served on its Board of Directors for 4 years. Based on the need he saw at this school, Sandro started CSMC in 2000 to provide complete back office services to charter developers and schools.

What you will learn:

  • Best practices for growth and replication
  • Funding options specific to your growth stage
  • Lessons learned from charter school leaders

REGISTER TODAY!