Our team partners with both board and school leadership to walk through the journey from school design and application to enrolled students.
Our trademarked technology tool works behind the scenes to ensure the building blocks are in place to create a high functioning school. Day one.
We collaborate with you and local vetted experts in the area of special education, transportation, financial, and legal support. Best practices are the foundation of our work.
I just wanted to reach out and share my gratitude. There is SO much that goes into starting a school and starting it well and I am continuously impressed by all of your diligence and expertise. Karen and Beth, thank you so much for being amazing support and I am so excited to continue working with you!
Assistant Director, Link Public Schools
Why StartRight?
We recognize starting, leading, and overseeing a charter school is complex.
According to The Center for Education Reform, 66% of charter school failures are due to financial reasons (42%) and mismanagement (24%). We can infer that, in most of these cases, schools closed because of a lack of funds or because the funds weren’t managed well.
We believe the integration of best practices and effective systems mitigates organizational and financial challenges.
CharterSource partners with your team to guide the process of launching a new school from application to opening day. With a task list of over 600 items, we assist with the implementation of the key ready-to-open criteria. Our technology platforms were designed to optimally support high-functioning systems implementation.
Most importantly, our proven foundational systems are designed to create the infrastructure your school needs for sustainable growth and measurable impact.
Design
3 years before the school opens
To facilitate the development of the philosophical mission, vision, model and expertise of founding school design team to assess readiness to proceed with application.
Apply
2-2.5 years before the school opens
To guide school design team through process of submission of a comprehensive, compelling new school application.
Start
9-18 months before a school opens
To facilitate the implementation of the new school model with the infrastructure required to ensure readiness to open.
Grow
Launch growth readiness process 6-12 months before a greenlight decision needs to be made
To assess the feasibility for scaling using the six essential questions framework to identify strengths, risks and opportunities.
GrowRight – Considering Expanding Your School?
Healthy growth and consistent quality are crucial components when scaling a school. We view the greenlighting process and management of growth readiness as integral to organizational sustainability. Our guiding framework and thoughtful assessment will help your organization identify risks and opportunities.
We lead this collaborative process to build and identify the foundational datasets to inform potential growth strategies and make an informed decision to grow.
- Does the school have replicable academic systems and structures in place?
- Does the existing school have replicable operational systems and structures in place?
- Are environmental conditions conducive to an additional school?
- Is the existing Board sufficiently strong to govern additional schools?
Sample Workstream to Develop a High-Functioning School
Develop Efficient Operations
- Develop and implement technology plan and infrastructure
- Create health and safety systems and policies
- Create security policies and protocol
- Establish and publish school calendar
Build Sustainable Financial Model
- Establish financial reporting and review processes & procedures.
- Establish internal control policies & procedures.
- Establish contract approval policies & procedures
Build Sustainable People Model
- Articulate professional development philosophy
- Determine professional development requirements
- Identify individual staff/teacher professional development interests and goals
- Determine professional development and support needs of new teachers
- Identify professional development structures
Supporting the Community
- Set enrollment targets (align with authorizer milestones).
- Complete market analysis (e.g. trends, best practices).
- Identify key recruitment strategies.
- Identify key strategies for ongoing engagement (from interest to first day of school).
Develop Academic Systems
- Gain access to special education data reporting application (SEDRA)
- Request special education tuition adjustment
- Receive official approval memo from MDE
- Submit EGMS Application per FIN Code via SERVS
Build Board Management System
- Incorporation of board portal – one sign-in experience that manages all board functions from performance review, board training, and board self-assessment.
- Establish committee charters and board goal setting
- Develop monthly board dashboard to capture key indicators
- Automate policy development process via our Policy Learning Lab