Category: Uncategorized

As the Fall approaches, charter schools around the nation are scrambling to meet the recommendations set forth by the CDC and other bodies for a safe reopening. As we heard at NCSCv on July 23rd, some schools are deep in the middle of this effort, some schools are finding the process overwhelming.

While many entities have assembled resources to provide guidance to public schools in general and public charter schools specifically, we found the documentation provided by the National Alliance of Charter Schools and the California Department of Education to be most immediately helpful in navigating the many aspects of a safe reopening of our schools.

Over the course of the next few weeks, you will notice in our Instagram, Facebook and Twitter channels a series of infographics providing helpful tips. While these are not meant to be comprehensive, we hope you’ll find them useful in dispelling some of the confusion and overwhelm that such a massive undertaking can generate. These helpful tips for school reopening all stem from the following documents:

We strongly encourage charter school leaders to review the above two documents in detail

Below we list additional resources we’ve found helpful in defining steps to take in ensuring readiness for students to returns to class – either as in-class learners or remote learners – are listed below. (We expect this to be an expanding list. Bookmark this page and come back to it regularly – we’ll be adding resources as we review them.)

Stakeholder Concerns

Gathering input from stakeholders accomplishes two important goals: It gives school leaders valuable data which will empower them to do better, AND it communicates to stakeholders that their concerns are being considered. While the first goal is widely understood, the importance of this second one cannot be overstated.

The compendium of resources gathered by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools – skillfully assembled by Lisa S. Grover, PhD and Peri Lynn Turnbull, APR – lists surveys that have been conducted by national organizations.  TNTP has a bank of survey questions, as well as a COVID-19 School Response Toolkit that may help charter school leaders collect ongoing feedback. Learning Heroes assembled a poll. EdChoice and the American Federation for Children have published survey results as well. Charter school leaders can dive into all of these resources to get steering data as they engage in the daunting task of reopening their schools.

Survey Template

Following the Charter Alliance’s lead, we’re making a set of survey questions available here for download. These stem from the National Parent Poll which Echelon Insights carried out for the National Parents Union (NPU). (You can see their survey results here)

We’re providing this survey template in MS Word. This enables charter school leadership to add their logos and contact info prior to sending these out. Simply download the MS Word template, replace with your own logo, branding and contact info and distribute to your stakeholders.

COVID-19 Response survey for charter school stakeholders

 

Financial Readiness

While the process of making schools safe for our students is of paramount importance, the survival and growth of your school in these uncertain times is just as vital for the uninterrupted educational experience of young minds.

With that in mind, we urge you to develop a strong strategic plan to weather state deferrals, as well as the added financial burden of providing a COVID-safe campus for your student body, teachers and support staff. Reach out to our financial experts if you need assistance with this. We’ve been through the Great Recession and have helped many charter schools survive and thrive in difficult financial climates. We’re here for you now. Call us at 503-227-2910.

 

COVID19 School District CommunicationsCOVID-19: Case Study in Great School District Communications – A Parent’s Perspective

In late February, a Lake Oswego, Oregon school staff member tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. It was very early in the initial days of the outbreak, and the Lake Oswego School District (LOSD) was suddenly thrust into the front lines of crisis communications.

One of our team members has two kids in the district, and in her own words, she describes some essentials for keeping parents and caregivers calm and a good model for handling communications during a crisis.

Regular School District Communications

Messages, Multiple Channels – Liz Overson’s Perspective

As a Lake Oswego parent, I feel the district has done a very good job of keeping the people informed when the first Coronavirus case was found/presumptive and later tested positive. I feel aligned with the updates with each move since.

6:00 pm Friday, February 28 – first robocall came explaining a staffer at Forest Hills elementary has tested positive for the coronavirus and is in isolation in the hospital. Text message and emails also came communicating the same message.

7:00 pm Friday, February 28 – second robocall saying all LOSD schools and campuses were closed for the weekend for deep cleaning. Text message and emails also came communicating the same message.

12:00 pm Saturday, Feb 29 – a press conference with the district Superintendent, Communications Director and County/ Health Authority was held. This press conference timing and link were communicated via text, email and robocall as well.

1:00 pm Sunday, March 1 – a health alert update was posted reiterating the safety measures being taken.

On the LOSD home page there is a Health Alert box now. From there, parents can click through to find a timeline of everything that has been shared and done since 2/28:

As a parent, I appreciate:
• Regular communications of fluid info – LOSD is acting as a resource and all LOSD families have the same info.
• LOSD has links to Clackamas County and Oregon Health Authority – making it easy for me to research more if I so choose.
• LOSD communicated in simple and straightforward language.

We can look at this as a model to prepare for the potential that your school will need a similar plan.

Join us for our upcoming webinar:
COVID-19: Six Essential Guidelines for Contingency & Communications Planning
Friday, March 20th | 10:00 a.m. PT

REGISTER HERE

California Charter Schools Conference27th Annual California Charter Schools Conference

As one of this year’s proud sponsors, we are eager to celebrate to honor charter school success at the 27th annual California Charter Schools Conference in Long Beach, CA at the Long Beach Convention Center.

we love charter schools socks

Be sure to stop by booth #1012 to say hello and grab your free pair of our exclusive 2020 #WeLoveCharterSchools socks, while supplies last!

As always, we look forward to meeting, learning from, and connecting with charter leaders who come from all over The Golden State to help forward the charter school movement.

If you’re attending, we sincerely hope you’ll take a minute to swing by our booth and say hello and let us know how we can support your school and students!
Additionally, we will be hosting a session that you won’t want to miss:

Enrollment Marketing 101: How to Attract and Engage Prospective Students
Wednesday, March 18th | 8:30a.m. – 9:30a.m.

Extra Credit: Use the hashtag #WeLoveCharterSchools hashtag onsite, and we’ll share your special conference moments on our social channels!

Find more information on our session and get other conference details here: https://charterschoolp.wpengine.com/event/ccsa2020/

Charter School Capital logoSince the company’s inception in 2007, Charter School Capital has been committed to the success of charter schools. We help schools access, leverage, and sustain the resources charter schools need to thrive, allowing them to focus on what matters most – educating students. Our depth of experience working with charter school leaders and our knowledge of how to address charter school financial and operational needs have allowed us to provide over $2 billion in support of 600 charter schools that have educated over 1,027,000 students across the country. For more information on how we can support your charter school, contact us. We’d love to work with you!

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2020 California Legislative Prospectus

California Legislative ProspectusWith the year ending, it is time to focus on where the 2020 California Legislature may go on charter schools next year. This year, we saw the passage of AB 1505 and AB 1507 which changed the way that charter schools will be approved and renewed. The bills also put major restrictions on non-classroom based charter schools including a two-year moratorium on their authorization. Finally, AB 1507 placed new limits on where these charters can locate and where they can have resource centers.

During the two year moratorium, we should expect to see a further examination and crackdown on non-classroom based charters. Some members of the State Assembly have made it clear that they view AB 1505 and AB 1507 as just the start of chaining the laws that govern charter schools. We also anticipate that there will be both Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Teeam (FCMAT) and Joint Legislative Audit Committee (JLAC) audits on several of these type of charter schools, which will give the Legislature several different ways to put these charter schools under a microscope. The FCMAT audits would be requested by local education agencies (LEAs) while the JLAC audits would be requested by the Legislature.

Additionally, the administration has expressed a clear concern about two different aspects of non-classroom based charters:
1. How they generate Average Daily Attendance (ADA)
2. How many charter schools should small school districts be allowed to authorize?

The ADA questions is much broader than charter schools and would focus on how independent study programs generate ADA since charters generate ADA the same way. The focus on small school districts is much more concerning because a lot of small districts use non-classroom based charter schools to supplement programs that they cannot manage themselves, thus serving a student population that may be difficult to serve.

As the new year begins and new California legislative measures are introduced, we will keep you updated as to the impact they will have on charter schools.

Charter School Capital logoSince the company’s inception in 2007, Charter School Capital has been committed to the success of charter schools. We help schools access, leverage, and sustain the resources charter schools need to thrive, allowing them to focus on what matters most – educating students. Our depth of experience working with charter school leaders and our knowledge of how to address charter school financial and operational needs have allowed us to provide over $2 billion in support of 600 charter schools that have educated over 1,027,000 students across the country. For more information on how we can support your charter school, contact us. We’d love to work with you!

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Charter School Capital Dewey Awards

Announcing the Winners for our 2019 Dewey Awards!

This year, for our 3rd annual Richard Dewey Awards, we were so honored to have received such amazing, touching, inspirational submissions. Close to 75 stories about how teachers have made a difference were shared with us. The caliber of submissions made selecting our three winners a very challenging task for our panel of judges.

And the 2019 Dewey Awards go to…

In no particular order, here are the winning stories that will receive the $1000 grants that will be given to a charter school of their choosing! Read these three heartwarming stories about teachers who have truly impacted the lives of their students.
Teacher: Joshua Curry
Subject:  History and Social Studies
School: Options Charter School Noblesville,
State: Indiana
Submission from: Conner Reiff
“How has Joshua Curry impacted my life?

Prologue

To answer this question, allow me to review the two previous years of my life. I had been told that I had ADHD, but in 6th grade, I had actually become seriously ill with Narcolepsy with Cataplexy. I was put on homebound restrictions through my previous school for almost two years. Having to do online work was not fun and sometimes I fell asleep halfway through my work! Sometimes I fell asleep for weeks at a time! I was put into a clinical trial for a medication where I had to frequently fly to California. Then I had to be seen by the top research doctor at Stanford University because I was still sleeping so much. It was there that I was also diagnosed with Klein-Levin Syndrome, a very rare sleep disorder. I have no idea how, but I somehow survived through those painful two years on an online school and traveling. After successful medical interventions, my homebound instructor suggested Options Charter School in Noblesville, Indiana. Today I am a successful student at Noblesville Options Charter School. Let me tell you about one of my teachers, who has made it his mission to ensure my success in school.
—————————————————————————
Actual Story

The school I am at now, Options Charter School, has put me on a brighter path by inspiring the student in me to wake up (no pun intended) and to be free. Regardless of my disorders, I am able to function at school and complete my work every day, sometimes with no homework at all!

The one teacher who helped me through a lot of this was my social studies teacher, Joshua Curry. He had some secondhand experience with Narcolepsy and it came from a surprising source! My family and I attended the Center for Courageous Kids in Scottsville, Kentucky. There I met other children who have narcolepsy including one of Josh’s school friends named Nick who had a daughter with the same type of narcolepsy as me! Nick tutored Josh on every possible important thing for a narcoleptic like me. He taught him the wants, needs, and level of care needed to help. Josh then suggested extended time for assignments, minimal homework, and that the goal was to help me succeed with whatever it took. Over a short period of time, Josh became not just a teacher, but my best friend and someone who cared for me. He came to my awards ceremony for the community project I had done. He even spoke at the ceremony despite his nervousness toward the thought of public speaking! He even drove me back to school afterward and bought me a giant-sized Dr. Pepper when we stopped at Speedway! We laughed all the way back! It was the best day of my life!

Josh has always had my back and he gives me somewhat ridiculous deadlines for school assignments. When I bring this up, he would say, “Just take the two weeks, Connor. Besides, it’s only just in case you fall asleep.” We would both laugh for a while after that and then I would go on to my next class. Every day at school I wish one thing for myself, “I wish to be in Josh’s classroom all day, every day!”

The reason that I like his classroom so much is because when I was undergoing treatment, I read a lot of historical articles, books, and movies. In the classroom, he makes history relevant and interactive. He uses constant hilarious dark humor that keeps my mind engaged. He engages the students by demonstrating that he is an authority about each topic. It makes me ask questions about the sequence of history.“History is not wrong unless you record it wrong” is one of his favorite quotes. He has many books in his classroom for different perspectives and time periods. This allows me to gain historical knowledge and draw my own conclusions.
There isn’t a teacher more deserving of being recognized than Josh Curry. Often times, charter school teachers are not recognized for helping individual students and for the good that they do in the world. Thank you for the opportunity to nominate Josh Curry. He is most deserving of this national honor!”

Teacher: Betty Williams
Subject: Academic, 2nd Grade
School: Frostproof Elementary School
State: Florida
Submission by: Mary Milton

“In loving memory of Mrs. Betty Williams:

As a first grade student, I hated school. I couldn’t read in first grade and everyone knew it. My first-grade teacher told me that I wouldn’t amount to anything because I couldn’t read and she wasn’t very pleasant or patient with me. I didn’t want to go to school. That all changed when I started second grade and had Mrs. Betty Williams as a teacher. Mrs. Williams was an older woman that had taught for years. She had a sense of calm that every student should encounter in a classroom. Mrs. Williams genuinely cared for her students and took the time to know each of us.

I remember the day I cried to her about not being able to read. She told me that I may not be able to read today, but she promised I would be able to read. Mrs. Williams patiently worked with me, she met with my mom and tried different strategies to help me read. One day, she moved my seat closer to the front of the room. I was able to see the board a little more clearly, but still not perfectly. I had never told anyone that things were blurry to me, but Mrs. Williams noticed that I was squinting and trying to figure out words on the board, that is why she moved me closer. When she requested a meeting with my mom I thought she was going to tell my mom the same thing my first-grade teacher told me. Instead, she told my mom that she thought I should have my eyes checked. We were a very low-income family and my mom told her she didn’t know if she could afford to take me to the eye doctor, but would try to get me in as soon as possible.

Mrs. Williams gave my mom her eye doctor’s name and told my mom to take me there and she would take care of the bill. I remember the doctor telling my mom that I needed glasses, I was far-sighted and had astigmatism. I was so proud when my glasses came in and begged my mom to take me by Mrs. Williams’s house so I could show her my glasses and tell her that trees had leaves now, not just blurry blobs. She didn’t mind that we stopped by her home after work and was so happy to see me smiling with my glasses on. Mrs. Williams continued to work with me on reading and I stayed in contact with her after her retirement. Her caring personality, her patience, and her observant eyes helped me believe in myself, taught me how to read, allowed me to see, and inspired me to become a teacher.”

Teacher: Chantal Haskell
Subject: Drama, Strings, Choir
School: Greenville Technical Charter High School
State: South Carolina
Submission by: Savannah Cannon

On my first day of freshman year, I was scared out of my mind. I didn’t really want to go to Drama Class, because I knew I would be the only freshman in Drama 2. I came inside and sat down on the third row. I was encouraged to come sit on the front row with my six other classmates and reluctantly agreed. We instantly started introductions, but Ms. Haskell didn’t do it like any of my other freshmen teachers would. We were asked about our summers, and Haskell showed us pictures from her wedding. We started improv, and I quickly became very aware of the energy in the room. My upperclassman classmates were performing scenes about babies in blenders and crazy things I had no idea how to react to. But Haskell quickly showed me that we were a family and that our family liked to have a lot of laughs.
Within only a couple weeks, I became more and more comfortable in Drama 2 class. With Haskell leading us, it wasn’t only about learning or getting the grade. It was about teaching us things that we would never forget. It was about making friends and gaining relationships I could treasure forever. Every project had a different twist and turn that scared me at first, but always came back, in the end, to teach me a bigger lesson.

Ms. Haskell wasn’t only teaching us inside of her classroom either. Haskell is the only teacher I have ever met that was brave enough to open up her own home to her students. Over Christmas break, when she should have been thanking God that she didn’t have to deal with us hooligans, she invited us to come bake cookies and spend time together. Haskell was not just a teacher that we sometimes talked to because we felt like we needed to, Haskell was someone I knew I could always come to for advice about anyone or anything.

Only about a month into the school year, auditions were held for Alice in Wonderland. I performed some little monologue about a school play and I loved every little second of my two minutes, but I was scared out of my mind. Only a couple of days later, I received callbacks for the show. I ended up playing the Red Queen, but what Haskell told me just a short 12 hours later would change everything I thought about myself. Before class, she pulled me to the side and told me that she believed I had really good talent and that if I kept working, she knew I would do big things. That statement has stuck with me for over two years now, and I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.

Haskell has continued to teach me things throughout my high school experience. She has worked harder than any teacher I have ever seen. She has given up her after school time four, if not all five days of the week. She has Musical Theatre class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, holds an acapella club for her students on Wednesdays, and stays after school on Mondays so that I can have meetings for our annual Murder Mystery Dinner, and so other kids can rehearse lines. She puts in more commitment inside and outside of the classroom than any teacher. She might leave our building with hours of work to do, but you can always count on her to have it done the next day when we return.

When I was having a tough time handling school, sports, friends, and family, Haskell was the only adult I knew I could come to. She never judged me, never looked down upon me. She only gave me the greatest advice and endless support. But most importantly, she just kept on telling me she loved me.

In my opinion, being a teacher is about sacrifice. Sacrificing your time, your effort, and probably sometimes your sanity. Only the best teachers truly care about their students the way that Haskell does. She is always there for a laugh, but she is also always there for a hug and to be a shoulder to cry on. Haskell is the kind of teacher that you cry about on graduation day because you’re not really sure what you’re going to do without their smile, support, and advice every day when you’re gone. Someday, when I become a teacher, I hope to have just as much passion for my kids as Haskell does for hers.

Thank you again to all of those who shared your amazing submissions, we were so very inspired reading (watching) them all!

Our Esteemed Submission Review Panel:

Darlene ChambersDarlene Chambers – A national leader in education reform, Dr. Darlene Chambers is the Senior Vice President for Programs & Services at the National Charter Schools Institute, and a review alum from both 2017 and 2018.

 

 

 

Janet JohnsonJanet Johnson – Chief Growth Officer at Charter School Capital and internal teacher/ inspiration officer herself (though she’s too humble to admit it), Janet is a review alum since 2017.

 

 

 

Amanda ListAmanda List – Amanda is a principal of AList Consulting and served as Texas Charter School Association’s first director of advocacy. Amanda has extensive state government affairs and public charter school experience including strong ties to the Texas Capitol and the Texas Education Agency. We welcome Amanda as a first time review panelist for the 2019 Dewey Awards.

 

 

Juana GarciaJuana Garcia – With more than 25 years of experience in education, Juana is the Founder of three Montessori Charter Schools and has served as a Magnet Lead Teacher, the Educational Excellence School Advisory Council Chair and United Way Ambassador. We welcome Juana as a first time review panelist for the 2019 Dewey Awards.

 

 

If you missed this year’s submission window, but still want to share your story and honor a special teacher outside the awards program, post it on social and tag @GrowCharters and use hashtags #WeLoveCharter Schools and  #DeweyAwards and we’ll share it on our social platforms.

Charter School Capital logoSince the company’s inception in 2007, Charter School Capital has been committed to the success of charter schools. We help schools access, leverage, and sustain the resources charter schools need to thrive, allowing them to focus on what matters most – educating students. Our depth of experience working with charter school leaders and our knowledge of how to address charter school financial and operational needs have allowed us to provide over $2 billion in support of 600 charter schools that have educated over 1,027,000 students across the country. For more information on how we can support your charter school, contact us. We’d love to work with you!

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Three Keys To Increasing Charter School Enrollment (1)

 

Charter school enrollment growth doesn’t happen by accident. It requires strategic planning, effective systems, and consistent execution across multiple touchpoints. Schools that consistently grow their enrollment understand that attracting families is only half the battle—converting interest into actual enrollment requires a comprehensive approach.

Drawing from the success of charter schools achieving 10% annual growth rates while maintaining waiting lists of hundreds of students, here are the three essential keys to sustainable enrollment growth that every charter school leader should implement.

Key #1: Develop a Multi-Faceted Marketing Strategy

Why Diversified Marketing Matters for Charter Schools

Successful charter school enrollment growth starts with a comprehensive marketing approach that reaches families where they are, not where you think they should be. Different communities respond to different marketing channels, and the most successful schools understand that a one-size-fits-all approach limits their potential reach.

Essential Marketing Channels for Charter Schools

Digital Marketing Strategies:

  • Social Media Marketing: Engage families on platforms they use daily, sharing student achievements, classroom highlights, and school culture moments
  • Pay-Per-Click Advertising: Target specific demographics and geographic areas with precise messaging about your school’s unique value proposition
  • Search Engine Optimization: Ensure your school appears when families search for educational options in your area

Traditional Marketing Approaches:

  • Print Advertising: Local newspapers, community magazines, and educational publications still reach important family demographics
  • Radio Advertising: Particularly effective for reaching commuting parents and building brand awareness in your community
  • Community Presence: Participation in local events, farmers markets, and community gatherings where target families spend time
The Strategy Behind Successful Marketing

The key to effective charter school marketing isn’t choosing one channel over another—it’s testing multiple approaches to determine what resonates with your specific community. What works in one geographic area may not work in another, which is why successful schools continuously experiment with different marketing strategies while carefully tracking results.

Data-Driven Marketing Approach:

  • Track which marketing channels generate the most website traffic
  • Monitor conversion rates from different advertising sources
  • Analyze demographic data to understand which messages resonate with different family groups
  • Continuously refine messaging based on actual enrollment data rather than assumptions
Key #2: Create an Effective, Mobile-Optimized Website

Your Website as Your Primary Enrollment Tool

Your school’s website serves as the digital front door for prospective families. In today’s mobile-first world, this digital first impression often determines whether a family will continue exploring your school or move on to other options.

Critical Website Design Principles for Charter Schools

Simplicity Over Complexity: Many school websites suffer from “information vomit”—overwhelming visitors with too much content because every department wants to showcase their programs. However, your website’s primary purpose is to inform potential students and families about your school in a clear, compelling way.

Mobile-First Design Requirements: With 70% of website traffic coming from mobile devices, your site must deliver an excellent experience on smartphones and tablets. This means:

  • Fast loading times on mobile networks
  • Easy-to-read text without zooming
  • Simple navigation that works with finger taps
  • Contact forms that are easy to complete on small screens
  • Click-to-call phone numbers for immediate contact
Essential Website Content for Enrollment Growth

Information Families Actually Need:

  • Clear description of your educational approach and philosophy
  • Academic programs and extracurricular offerings
  • Enrollment process and important deadlines
  • Contact information prominently displayed
  • Success stories and student achievements
  • Faculty qualifications and school leadership

Amazon-Level User Experience: Modern families expect the same level of convenience and ease they experience with major e-commerce sites. This means:

  • Intuitive navigation that gets them to information quickly
  • Search functionality to find specific details
  • Online application processes that work seamlessly
  • Immediate confirmation when they submit information requests
Conversion Optimization for Charter School Websites

Your website should guide visitors toward taking action, whether that’s requesting more information, scheduling a tour, or starting an application. Strategic placement of contact forms, clear calls-to-action, and compelling reasons to engage with your school can significantly increase conversion rates.

Key #3: Implement Responsive Systems and Dedicated Personnel

The Critical Importance of Quick Response Times

Even the most effective marketing and website design won’t drive enrollment growth if you can’t respond quickly to interested families. In today’s competitive educational landscape, families who don’t receive prompt responses will simply move on to other options.

Building an Effective Inquiry Management System

Contact Form Strategy: Implement a strategic contact form that collects essential information while providing immediate value to families. This approach allows you to:

  • Capture family contact information for follow-up
  • Understand their specific interests and needs
  • Provide relevant information packets automatically
  • Begin the relationship-building process immediately

The 24-Hour Response Rule: Successful charter schools make it a priority to respond to all inquiries within one business day. This rapid response time demonstrates professionalism and shows families that your school values their interest.

 
Staffing for Enrollment Success

Dedicated Enrollment Team: Growing charter schools invest in dedicated personnel to manage the enrollment process. Even schools serving thousands of students typically maintain enrollment teams of 6-8 people who handle:

  • Initial inquiry responses and follow-up calls
  • Application support and guidance
  • Document collection and verification
  • Enrollment appointments and paperwork completion
  • Ongoing communication throughout the process

Process Management: Effective enrollment teams manage multiple complex processes simultaneously:

  • Hundreds of weekly inquiries during peak periods
  • Document collection including immunization records
  • Application processing and verification
  • Enrollment appointments and master agreement signing
  • Ongoing family communication and support
Streamlining the Enrollment Process

Timeline Management: The enrollment timeline varies significantly based on timing and family readiness. During peak seasons (July and August), the process typically takes 2-3 weeks from initial inquiry to completed enrollment. However, prepared families during off-peak times can sometimes complete enrollment within a single week.

Removing Enrollment Barriers: The online application process can be complex, requiring numerous documents and forms. Successful schools focus on making this process as painless as possible by:

  • Providing clear instructions and checklists
  • Offering multiple ways to submit required documents
  • Having staff available to answer questions throughout the process
  • Following up proactively to prevent applications from stalling
Measuring and Optimizing Your Enrollment Success

Key Performance Indicators for Charter School Enrollment

Website and Marketing Metrics:

  • Website traffic sources and conversion rates
  • Cost per inquiry from different marketing channels
  • Mobile website performance and user engagement
  • Time from inquiry to application submission

Enrollment Process Metrics:

  • Response time to initial inquiries
  • Conversion rate from inquiry to completed application
  • Average time from application to enrollment
  • Reasons families choose other schools (exit interview data)
Continuous Improvement Strategies

Successful charter schools treat enrollment growth as an ongoing process requiring constant attention and refinement. This means:

  • Regularly surveying enrolled families about their decision-making process
  • Tracking which marketing messages resonate most effectively
  • Continuously optimizing website performance and user experience
  • Training enrollment staff on best practices and communication skills
Building Long-Term Enrollment Success

Creating Sustainable Growth Systems

The schools that achieve consistent 10% annual growth rates while maintaining waiting lists understand that enrollment success requires:

  • Consistent execution across all three key areas
  • Investment in both technology and personnel
  • Ongoing measurement and optimization
  • Commitment to providing exceptional customer service throughout the enrollment process
The Compound Effect of Excellence

When charter schools excel in marketing, website optimization, and responsive enrollment processes, the results compound over time. Satisfied families become advocates who refer other families, creating a sustainable pipeline of interested students that can support consistent growth year after year.

Getting Started: Your Next Steps

If your charter school isn’t achieving the enrollment growth you need, start by evaluating your current performance in these three key areas:

  1. Audit your marketing approach: Are you reaching families through multiple channels and tracking what works?
  2. Assess your website: Does it provide an excellent mobile experience and clear path to enrollment?
  3. Evaluate your response systems: Can you respond to inquiries within 24 hours and guide families through enrollment smoothly?

Improvement in any of these areas will positively impact your enrollment, but the schools that see dramatic growth excel in all three simultaneously.

Ready to take your charter school enrollment to the next level? Our team specializes in helping charter schools implement these proven strategies for sustainable growth. Contact us to learn how we can support your enrollment goals.

charter school operationsCharter Schools Operations: How to Manage for Sustainability

For this episode of our CHARTER EDtalks, Ryan Eldridge, one of Charter School Capital’s Charter School Advisors, had the honor of sitting down with Tom Tafoya, Chief Operations Officer for Visions in Education as he shares his tips for managing sustainable growth and provides key operational strategies for long-term success.
Visions in Education is a tuition-free public charter school that supports personalized learning in public education. They now serve over 6,400 students across a nine-county service area, making us one of the largest and most stable charter schools in the Sacramento Valley region.
To learn the tips and strategies Tom Tafoya so generously shared with us, please watch the video or read the transcript below to get the full story.

Ryan Eldridge: Hello there, and thank you for joining us for this episode of CHARTER EDtalks. I’m Ryan Eldridge, charter school advisor for Charter School Capital. I’m honored to be joined today by Tom Tafoya, Chief Operations Officer for Visions in Education.
And we’re here to discuss managing sustainable charter schools, operational strategies for long term success. So I appreciate you coming today, Tom. Welcome. Why don’t we just kick it off, jump right into it? The first question… So Visions has been around for about 20 years now. So what have been some of the greatest challenges over the years?

Overcoming Initial Challenges

Tom Tafoya: So I’ve been with Visions for 14 years, and over that timeframe, we’ve encountered a lot of ups and downs. You know, when we had initial growth we did not have a lot of administrative systems and people in place to manage the growth. We tripped over ourselves constantly and I think that really hurt us.
We had a period where we had declining enrollment because we just weren’t doing our job well. And so I think over that time, we started to get smarter, and started bringing the right people, and started building the systems for kind of sustained growth.
Starting out with not having some good administrative systems and people in place really was a challenge. At the same time, you have the competitor pressure. So if the competition is coming and you’re not really set up to succeed, you’re not going to succeed. And so I think between the … just having good systems and good structures for the operation, let alone are we providing great services to our students is a really big challenge. And I’m only going to talk about the operational pieces. Because as the operations officer, I’m in charge of business technology, enrollment, ordering materials, all those types of things.
From my perspective, not having good people and systems was a big challenge. And then the competition, and then you have the external environment that’s constantly changing and impacting the things that we have to do to meet our obligations as a charter school.

Maximize Revenues

Tafoya: Those are some of the big challenges that we faced over the years. The big things in trying to maintain a sustainable charter over time is really being focused on two things: maximizing revenues, minimizing expenditures. It sounds so simple.
Under each of those umbrellas, you can go for days on all the different tactics and strategies for each. And so I’ll just kind of cover some of the top two. Number one, maximizing revenue and driving enrollment and/or maintaining your enrollments are the top two.
So I think growing enrollment, but if you have a retention problem you’re going to continually have to keep filling that leaking bucket. And so we’ve done a lot of work to systematize and really improve our enrollment practices from using really advanced marketing, and building enrollment systems to have the workflow— the enrollment process— be very streamlined to continue to grow enrollment. And then also kind of working on ensuring that our retention is good.
And really, the biggest challenge is retention. Do we know why students are staying with us and why they’re leaving? Are we serving them or not? Are we learning from those surveys and making adjustments as we go?
And over time, we’ve done that. We’ve listened to the surveys, kind of paid attention to what the competitors are doing, making adjustments every step of the way so that those families that we get … we want to keep them. And then continue to grow the kids in a really managed way.
We don’t want to just chase growth for sake of growth because that’s generally going to lead to not a good outcome for the kids, because you’re not really serving them well. We’ve tried to approach it as a managed growth approach. We average about 10% growth a year.
Eldridge: Wow.
Tafoya: For us, that’s what we want to do. We’re turning away hundreds of kids a year, but we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves where we’re not providing really great services and systems to have good outcomes for them. And so, really focusing on that piece … that’s that maximizing enrollment piece which results in maximized revenues.
Certainly, you’ve got to pursue all types of revenues whether that be your SELPA arrangement, special ed, summer school ADA programs, Medical reimbursements. Are you fully utilizing all of your teachers because you manage them properly and appropriately?
Those are all tactics we’re constantly looking to turn over every stone to ensure we’ve maximized our revenues. Again, we’re not trying to grow 30, 40% a year. We want to maintain a really good, steady growth. But in that steady growth, maximize our revenue so that we’re not kind of wondering what happened to all the money.

Minimize Expenses

The flip side is minimizing expenses. And so with that is really … I’m cheap. I’m always looking for a deal, and I want to make sure we’re getting the best deal. Whether we’re building technology or buying technology, for all the staff we hire do we have systems and metrics in place to ensure our staff is fully utilized? That’s a lot of the work we do is really … We hire 10 new teachers, we want to make sure they’re full on day one and they stay full throughout the year.
You can only do that if you have really good enrollment processes and practices. As you lose a student, we can immediately replace the student. That’s a way for us to minimize our expenses on our staffing, and we have elaborate systems and processes in place to make sure that we’re able to do that with high efficiency. Which again, allows to really have a lot of money left over. We have an online program that serves about 2,500 kids. Every kid gets a Chromebook. If they’re low income, they get a MiFi unit. And those aren’t cheap. That’s how we’re able to do those types of things is by making sure every stone is turned over and every expense is minimized.
Really kind of paying attention, but this is taxpayer money. It’s not our money.
Eldridge: Right.
Tafoya: It’s taxpayer money. And we’re really cognizant of that, and respecting that, and doing our best with all the resources we have and trying to serve as many kids who want to be served by us. But doing so in a way that’s really good for them and not just for growth’s sake.
Eldridge: Yeah, that’s great. How many total students do you serve?
Tafoya: We serve about 6,300 right now. We have one charter in Northern California with 6,300 students. This past spring, we turned away about 900 kids. We do an independent study program, so we have homeschooling and several online high school programs … one for at-risk kids and one for kind of a college preparatory program.
Eldridge: Yeah. Yeah, that’s a lot of kids to manage. Sounds like you’re doing a great job up there. Appreciate you coming on screen today, and chatting with us, and giving your insight and expertise. That wraps up this episode of CHARTER EDtalks. Again, thank you, Tom. We appreciate it. Hopefully everybody enjoyed the session today. Thank you.

Charter School AuthorizersTips on Building Better Relationships with Charter School Authorizers

For this episode of our CHARTER EDtalks, Ryan Eldridge, one of Charter School Capital’s Charter School Advisors, had the honor of sitting down with Mike Limon, Executive Director at Orange County Educational Arts Academy (OCEAA), to discuss actionable tips for building better relationships with charter school authorizers.
To learn the tips on how to build better relationships with your charter school authorizers, please watch the video or read the transcript below to get the full story.

Building Relationships with Charter School Authorizers

Ryan Eldridge: Hello there and thank you for joining us in this episode of CHARTER EDtalks. I’m Ryan Eldridge, Charter School Advisor for Charter School Capital, and I’m honored to be joined by Mike Limon, Executive Director at Orange County Educational Arts Academy (OCEAA). And we’re going to be discussing building better relationships with charter school authorizers.
Mike Limon: Great.
Eldridge: So, thank you, Mike, for joining us. We appreciate it.
Limon: Thanks for having me.
Eldridge: Why don’t we just jump right into it.
Limon: Sure.

Breaking Down Barriers, Collaborating, Accountability

Eldridge: The first question is, “Can you define what building better relationships with charter authorizers means to you?”
Limon: Sure. So before even I dive into that, I want to give a big thank you to the Santa Ana Unified School District. They’ve been great at getting me up and running because this is year one for me as executive director.
So, I’m definitely excited to dive in, learn, and build relationships. And so, with that, the bigger topic is the students. We’re here to educate all students, whether they’re in a public charter school, a traditional school, a private, a Catholic school, etc., whatever. We’re here to educate them together. And so, with that, the word in my mind that pops up is collaboration. Let’s break down those barriers and truly collaborate together as the authorizer and the public charter school.
We want to work beyond just our traditional responsibilities that board members have. There’re responsibilities that they’re held accountable to, and I have my responsibilities that I’m held accountable to. Let’s not lose sight of how we can go beyond those responsibilities and build a tighter relationship to educate all our students in our district.
A lot of folks have this very transactional process or experience with their charter school manager or their authorizers, or the board themselves—very transactional. I want to break beyond that and truly build a partnership with them to figure out how to elevate our students to the next level.

How to Build Those Relationships

Eldridge: What does effective relationship-building look like?

Providing Feedback

Limon: People traditionally just go in and submit interim budget reviews or attendance reports, just check the box off. For me, again, I want to break down those barriers, get to know who these people are that sit on the board, and also the folks behind the scenes. The assistant superintendents, the charter school manager, or whatever their title is, breaking that down and building processes together, because I know that the school districts are also trying to systematize their processes.
And even, for example, in Santa Ana, they just started using this new tool called Epicenter, and so I think its year one for them, if I’m not mistaken. But I know that they’re also trying to figure out how it works, how to systematize it, how to make it better for both users. I know that it’s a brand new tool, so for them, they want to go in and try to customize things.
If you don’t give them constructive criticism or feedback on how to elevate their processes, we’re not going to get anywhere versus just submitting your traditional transactional paperwork, etc.
One of the things I’ve learned in working with them … and I call them. I email them. I text them when I need something or just education as well, because we’re cross-educating each other.
They don’t know what our challenges are either because they’re not in our shoes every day throughout the year. They come in maybe twice a year, check out the school, that kind of thing. But if we’re not giving them feedback, we can’t help them help us make our jobs easier.
Because at the end of the day, charter school teams are pretty small, and so to be able to have another informal colleague on the other side supporting you and cheering you on, you can’t really get anywhere. Again, it’s a very fast-paced environment as well. If you’re not creating constant touchpoints or conversations, you can’t really elevate processes.

Build relationships at the city, county and state level

Limon: The other thing, too, that came up with this conference—and this was only day one—is the notion … because my authorizer is Santa Ana. We’re in Santa Ana, so for us, it’s easy to just quickly build relationships with them.
But also, at the county level, that’s something that is a best practice. You should be building relationships with them as well if you have a city authorizer. We forget.
We focus all our energies on developing those relationships with the city, but we lose sight that we also should be building relationships at the county level and even at the statewide level as well because sometimes, even in Santa Ana, they may not have answers to some of your questions.
To be able to have someone that you can call at the state level, at the county level, that you already built relationships with … because sometimes you might be down to the wire trying to get some things done, and you definitely need that support to try to answer that question.
Just building processes together to be more effective in the long term. You’ve got to plant the seed to gain the results a year later. If you start now and have those meaningful touchpoints and help them help you, it’s definitely very effective.

If you build it, will they come?

Eldridge: Can you give me a few examples of how you can collaborate with a charter authorizer in the school board?
Limon: I’ll start off with very simple things first, and then I’ll dive into some recent things that have just come up as far as opportunities for me.
You know your traditional site visits; have coffee, get them to come to your events. Constantly invite them out. It’s going to be really hard to get them on your calendar because, especially for Santa Ana, our district is pretty large and there’s constant events happening at their schools. And there’s fundraisers and “munch and learns” and etc. I see all kinds of formats of events.
Just get them to come out to your school, let them get to know who your students are, who your teachers are, who the families are … because there’s all these misconceptions about the people that we serve at our charter schools. And for our school, for example, we’re about 86%, 87% Latino/Hispanic students that we serve. The misconception in the community is that it’s the other way around, very low Hispanic rates that we serve, which is completely wrong.
For us, to get them to come out … and it doesn’t have to be a school board, it could be some other staff, maybe even some other teachers to come out and see who we are so that as they’re telling the story about OCEAA in the community and they have a good understanding [of who we are].
They’ve been in the classrooms. They’ve seen the parents. They’ve engaged with them. That’s definitely something I’m going to be really pushing for the next year.
It’s going to take a lot of work because even just for you guys as service providers, to be able to educate people in your programs and get people to come in and learn about the services you offer, it takes a lot of work. It’s kind of that similar situation, so I’m going to have to work my butt off to try to get them to come into our buildings.
One other thing that, for me, I’m lucky I’m in downtown Santa Ana, we have food, great food, throughout the city that we’re in. Just trying to get them on the calendar to come to break bread with me would also be an easy ask. They’re breaking bread at a very yummy place that’s maybe not so hoity-toity. And that builds that relationship a little further.

Do your homework, get involved, and get connected!

Limon: A lot of them are also very involved with community organizations or non-profits in the Orange County area. For example, the Orange County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the National Latina Business Women Association. There’re these ethnic organizations that these board members of Santa Ana support and maybe even have leadership roles in, which I’ve been doing for the last decade or so. I’m on the board of the California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce here in Sacramento. And there’s all this synergy happening to elevate Hispanic youth or even leaders already in the community supporting each other, paying it forward.
Doing some homework with regards to where you are in the nation or California on where these board members spend the rest of their time.
Do they support other organizations?
Figure out what interests them and work with them to build that relationship aside from your day-to-day responsibilities, like I was mentioning earlier, get to know them on a personal level and start to build that relationship, because, as we all know, we’ve got those interim budgets, the renewal. There’s all this compliance that we have to do. If you start building those relationships and even planting the seed or even asking, “Okay, so for this year, for the renewal this time around, what are the things that we need to start preparing for?”
Because it’s probably a good time to start preparing for that renewal. You never know with all the laws that come up and those constant changes. To be able to have someone to call on really quickly versus at the last minute, 30 days coming up, you’re probably scrambling, and you don’t really have any relationships that you’ve established, that’s going to be a huge challenge for these folks.
Again, community relationships, building those processes, those collaboration opportunities, get to know who they are.
And then something that just happened recently with me is the school board president just invited me to be a principal for the day at one of their schools, and I feel so honored. So, thank you, Santa Ana. But to get that opportunity to go and be an admin at one of their schools as a charter leader, I think that’s a home run right there.
Eldridge: Absolutely.
Limon: And it goes back to all the work that I’ve been doing over the last few months and trying to build relationships with them, supporting them. Of course, there are only so many hours in the day, and I would love to duplicate myself and get out to more events and support them. But you have to have that balance because you don’t want to burn yourself as well at the end of the day.
It’s been quite the ride so far, and I’m looking to see what the future holds in partnership with you guys. You guys have been great as educators, educating our school on different opportunities and how we can focus on our facilities because that’s a big challenge as well for other organizations out there. I didn’t realize that.
Even for us, for example, we had a short-term challenge with flooding with all these rains. And so, you quickly get a reminder about the importance of facilities. And so, we’ve been chatting just recently about how we can elevate our school with your support.
Eldridge: Well, great. Well, that wraps up this episode of CHARTER EDtalks. Mike, thank you very much for joining us. We appreciate it.
Limon: Thanks for having me.
Eldridge: And hopefully it was beneficial to you viewing out there. Take care.


The Ultimate Guide to Charter School Facility Financing:
In this CHARTER EDtalk, Mike chatted about potential upcoming facilities projects he’s considering. Are you thinking about a new facility for your charter school or enhancing your current one? This guide shares straightforward and actionable advice on facilities planning, financing options, getting approved, choosing a partner, and much more! Download it here.

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Charter SchoolsCharter Schools Are A Better Investment Than Traditional Public Schools

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published here on April 9, 2019 by the New York Post. It was written by Patrick Wolf, a distinguished professor of education policy and holds the endowed chair in school choice at the University of Arkansas and Corey DeAngelis, a policy analyst at the Cato Institute. It examines which type of public school — traditional or public charter — delivered the most ­academically cost-effective education.
We think it’s vital to keep tabs on the pulse of all things related to charter schools, including informational resources, and how to support charter school growth and the advancement of the charter school movement as a whole. We hope you find this—and any other article we curate—both interesting and valuable.

Case closed: Charter schools deliver more education ‘bang’ for the buck

Polls show that most Americans think our public schools deserve more funding. Meanwhile, each year, states and school districts make choices about how to spend the education funds that they have. Doesn’t it make sense for them to invest in schools that work — schools that help students learn the most with the lowest burden on taxpayers?
Several years ago, we began ­researching which type of public school — traditional or public charter — delivered the most ­academically cost-effective education. In a 2018 report, we ­examined eight cities: New York City plus Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, San Antonio and Washington, DC.
While their sizes and demographics vary widely, each city has a substantial concentration of students enrolled in charter schools. In every city, we found that charter schools were more productive — that is, they yielded more learning per education dollar spent than traditional district schools.
Students enrolled in New York City’s charter schools scored roughly 12 points in reading on the 2015 National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, for ­every $1,000 invested in those schools.
By contrast, students in the city’s traditional public schools produced about 9.5 NAEP reading points per $1,000 invested, generating a cost-effectiveness advantage of 24% for charters in the Big Apple. The results for math were similar: More than 13 NAEP points per $1,000 of funding for charters compared to almost 10.5 points for traditional schools.
We also discovered that Washington, DC, charters were 67% more cost-effective than traditional schools. Indianapolis charters bested their traditional counterparts by 65% on the productivity measure.
This year we revisited the same eight cities to see if the trend had continued. It had. Once again, the charter schools in each city proved more cost-effective. Public charter schools in New York were 25% more cost-effective than the city’s traditional public schools in producing 2017 NAEP reading scores and 26% more cost-effective in generating math scores.
San Antonio charter schools, to take another example, were 29% more cost-effective in math and 30% more cost-effective in reading than traditional schools. Washington charters were 43% more cost-effective in both subjects. The results for each city are detailed in our report, “A Good Investment: The Updated Productivity of Public Charter Schools in Eight U.S. Cities.”
We recognized that NAEP scores represent only a snapshot of academic performance. So we were curious what long-term academic results would reveal.
By calculating the average amount of learning at traditional and charter schools, the economic returns to those learning levels over the ­average lifetime, as well as each type of school’s total per-pupil funding over the course of a K-12 education, we were able to calculate the return on investment, or ROI, delivered by each type of school.
In all eight cities, we found that charters delivered a greater lifetime ROI. For each dollar invested in a student enrolled in traditional schools, that student secures $4.41 in lifetime earnings. The same dollar invested in a student enrolled in charter schools yields $6.37 in lifetime earnings for that student.
Public charter schools’ ROI exceeded that of traditional public schools by an average of 53%. Atlanta charter schools yielded an ROI that was 102% greater than traditional schools. Indianapolis came in second, with charters’ ROI 73% greater than traditional schools, followed by Washington charters at 58% and Boston charters at 53%.
The ROI for learning generated in New York City charters was 29% higher than the ROI in the traditional public schools in the city.
Elected officials and policymakers have a choice about where to invest educational resources and a responsibility to invest wisely. Charter schools are, simply put, a good investment. Our findings are just one more reason why lawmakers in Albany should raise the cap on charters in New York City and give the more than 53,000 Big Apple families on charter waitlists the chance to get the sound education they deserve.

Charter School Capital logoIf you are trying to meet operational expenses, expand, acquire or renovate your school building, add an athletic department, enhance school safety/security, or buy new technology, complete the online application below and we’ll contact you to set up a meeting. Our team works with you to determine funding and facilities options based on your school’s unique needs.


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Florida Legislative Update

Florida Legislative Update: Mid-Session Hope for Schools of Hope

In the past two years, the Florida Legislature passed some of the most sweeping charter school policy since the original charter school legislation was signed in 1996. As Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, Richard Corcoran orchestrated the revamping of the formula for calculating and appropriating capital funds to charter schools, expanded timelines for planning and opening new charter schools, created a state-sponsored scholarship for struggling readers in grades 3-5. But the most sweeping change that will play for years to come is Schools of Hope.

Schools of Hope

Schools of Hope were established as a means of closing the opportunity gap and improving student performance. The Schools of Hope legislation provided an expedited approval path to entice national high performing charter schools to become Hope Operators and open charter schools within the attendance zones of Florida’s persistently low-performing traditional public schools.
Since then, two nationally known charter school operators (KIPP and IDEA Public Schools) have received the Hope Operator designation from Florida Department of Education and have announced plans for new schools in Miami and Tampa.

A Plan to Expand

Fast forward to the present. Shortly after his inauguration in January Governor Ron DeSantis named former Speaker Richard Corcoran as Secretary of Florida Department of Education, and he is now on a mission with supporters in the Florida Legislature to expand the Schools of Hope program even further.

Legislative Negotiations

At the beginning of legislative session last month the Florida Senate offered a plan that cut funding for the existing Schools of Hope program ($140 million) as well as reclaiming money from the previous two years and increasing Hope awards available to school district’s efforts at improving those persistently low-performing schools on their own. This idea did not sit well with House members who felt the Schools of Hope was the best solution after years of failed attempts by school districts to improve performance at these low-performing schools.
The House plan cuts Hope awards available to public schools from $2,000 per student to $500 per student and shifts more money into the Schools of Hope program. Negotiations between the two chambers on policy soon began and now the policy is beginning to come together.

Senate Bills

This past week, the Senate amended its school choice bill to more closely resemble the House version and its provisions for Schools of Hope expansion.
Both bills (HB 7095 in the House and SB 7070 in the Senate) would revise the school grade requirements in the definition of “persistently low-performing” that could potentially expand the areas available for Hope Operators to open new schools. It would also provide state funds for lease payments and other costs until the school is fully enrolled.
The House version further amends the definition of “persistently low-performing” to include Florida Opportunity Zones created by the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, signed into law last December. This could add an additional 200 communities available for potential Hope Operators to consider for new school sites.

What it All Means

Both versions of the bill will continue to move closer to one another as the last two weeks of the legislative session come to a close. Regardless of what the specific language that is finally approved, this expansion of the Schools of Hope program will continue to solidify school choice and will only mean more options for closing the opportunity gap in Florida’s K-12 education system.
See our previous Florida Legislative Update here.

Charter School Capital logoSince the company’s inception in 2007, Charter School Capital has been committed to the success of charter schools. We provide growth capital and facilities financing to charter schools nationwide. Our depth of experience working with charter school leaders and our knowledge of how to address charter school financial and operational needs have allowed us to provide over $1.8 billion in support of 600 charter schools that have educated over 1,027,000 students across the country. For more information on how we can support your charter school, contact us. We’d love to work with you!

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