DESE authorized our charter today!

Woooooooooooohooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!

We drove to Jeff City today for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education monthly Board meeting. It was interesting to see how those Board meetings run (there were at least 20 agenda items!) and to hear the questions, opinions and role clarification of this appointed group charged with overseeing education for the state. But mostly, it was nerve-wracking as we awaited our slot on their agenda. Our authorization was delayed until after the lunch break. And so with bellies full of cafeteria food we returned to the conference room at 1pm. The meeting resumed, Jocelyn Strand, A+/ Charter Schools Director for DESE, presented our school model with the recommendation for authorization. The Board asked her a few questions about our model that she answered gracefully. We’ve been working with Jocelyn since the fall of 2007 to make sure that our school model and charter were presented in an acceptable format. The Board asked a few questions that were outside of Jocelyn’s expertise and I (Rhonda) responded. The concerns were standard:
Where/how will you identify and train teachers of these less commonly taught languages?
Who is your target demographic?
How/when will you provide English instruction, particularly when so many of our children struggle with basic literacy?
How will you recruit/maintain your lower income population?

The Board moved to authorize our charter and that was it! As we walkedo ut of the conference room, Jocelyn could hear that they were still talking about our model, and favorably at that!

Woohoo!!!!!!!

First SLLIS research project

It’s been an exciting few weeks! Approval for the first SLLIS research project – about parent involvement in education – has been received. Moreover, the date for Missouri charter authorization rapidly approaches. At that time, the real work of enrolling and engaging parents will begin in full force. That’s not to say SLLIS hasn’t been hitting the streets – and the events and the day cares and the preschools – for over 2 years now. Most recently, the team has spoken with organizations ranging from the Child Development Center at UMSL to the Refugee and Immigrant Consortium of St. Louis. The goal is to make sure that all city families and care-givers from all socio-economic, language, ethnic, etc., backgrounds have the information that they need to make the best decision for their children’s education. SLLIS wants to make sure that all parents know about this opportunity to learn in another language and through the IB Primary Years Programme.  And what a time to think about engaging parents and reaching out, on this very day that our new President Barack Obama has made so clear that the way to change is to work hard serving others, and not “underestimate the power for people to pull together and to accomplish amazing things”.

The First SLLIS Research Project

The objective of this first research project connected to SLLIS is to analyze the recruitment and engagement of families preceding and during the opening year (2009-2010) of the French and Spanish schools. Using observation and interview research methods, this project will address two questions: How is the SLLIS parent involvement policy designed? And what types of engagement does it encourage for diverse families? The results should help develop theory regarding parent involvement in education, as well as provide direct feedback to St. Louis area schools about how to best engage families.

Lisa Dorner

Who’s your sponsor?

If you already know how charters work in Missouri, you’re likely wondering who our sponsor is. For those new to the charter conversation, charter schools must have the approval of a sponsoring institution when applying to DESE (Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) for the authorization to recognize the charter and operate a school. In Missouri those sponsors are limited to:

• The local school district (SLPS in our case)

• Public or private universities and colleges in the state that operate teacher education programs

• DESE

We spent most of the 0708 school year in conversation with Webster about sponsoring our charter. When Webster officially declined to sponsor our charter in July (the university has not yet sponsored any charter), we regrouped and resubmitted our charter to other potential sponsors. Potential sponsor #2 is currently reviewing our charter and as soon as we have a firm commitment for sponsorship, we’ll let you know.

Optimistically.

4 Aug 08 update and questions

Financials

• We have submitted a three-year federal grant to the USDE for Charter School planning and implementation funds to support our operating, research and outreach costs for 0809, and the establishment of our extensive Professional Development Series, School Enrichment Plan (family and community involvement) and world language materials acquisition. We’ve received positive feedback about the strength of our application and look forward to hearing the grant awards that will be announced in late September.

• Thanks to an amazing team at Bryan Cave our application for federal non-profit 501(c)(3) status was filed in July. The average determination is made within six months of application. This federal status will allow SLLIS to accept tax-deductible contributions and access a host of private and corporate sponsorship opportunities. In the interim, contributions may be made to a Designated Fund for SLLIS at the Greater St. Louis Community Foundation.

Facilities

• We have identified a building in Mid-Town as an appropriate and affordable start-up facility for our model. This facility was a former corporate training center and is in move-in condition for school operations. We’re sorting through the next round of potential facilites proposed by our commercial real estate representations and will schedule a round of August walk-throughs for the Facilities Committee to consider other move-in condition sites. We are meeting with the Illinois Facilities Fund to detail our finance options.

Charter and Sponsor

• In April our Board approved our charter application as recommended by our internal Charter Application Review Committee. We continue to streamline our charter and business plan to reflect the most succinct, powerful version of our school model.

• The ED and Board Directors are meeting with several potential sponsoring institutions this month. As soon as a sponsor is selected we will submit our charter to DESE.

Recent Q & A

• One of the most frequently asked questions since we launched the blog is “What’s your timeline for opening?” Our first two schools will open in the Fall 2009 and in order to make this a reality we have a few drop-dead milestone deadlines:

Identify the charter school facility by October 08

Sign a lease/financing agreement by January 09

Submit our charter to DESE by December 08. DESE typically requires 3 months to render a determination on a charter application.

Hire a Head of School by January 2009.

Begin enrolling families in March 2009.

Hire lead teachers by April 2009.

Our internal timelines are shorter, which give us a little wiggle room to meet these absolute timelines. As we accomplish each of these milestones, you’ll be the first to know.

7 July 08 update

Facilities

• This week the Facilities Committee will begin walk-throughs for a number of potential sites for our 2009 opening. These potential facilities are located in Mid-town and near Highway 44/Jefferson.

Financials

• SLLIS has been awarded Phase I and Phase II of the Walton Family Foundation Planning Grant and will apply for Phase III this fall.
• SLLIS will submit an application for the US Department of Education Charter School Planning and Implementation grant by the end of July.
• The HR/Compensation Committee is reviewing job descriptions and job titles for key employees. SLLIS anticipates posting job announcements this fall.

Charter Approval

• SLLIS submitted its charter to a potential sponsor, has met with the Academic Affairs sub-committee of that university’s Board of Trustees and is awaiting a vote from the Board of Trustees meeting in September. SLLIS anticipates submitting the charter to the Deparment of Elementary and Secondary Education this fall.

Community Partnerships

• SLLIS will meet with the coordinator of the Skandalaris Entrepreneurial Internship Initiative to review our summer placement and discuss future possibilities for partnership.
• The French School Project Group will meet tonight at Kaldi’s in DeMun (700 DeMun, Clayton).
• SLLIS recently met with Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO) about partnering to promote our schools with their organization.

Community Outreach

• SLLIS launched its first public advertisement and is continuing to work with a team of creative interns at Moosylvania to design the official SLLIS website and publicity materials. SLLIS anticipates a website launch date of August 1st.

Board/Leadership Development

• SLLIS Executive Director attended the National Charter Schools Conference in June.
• SLLIS welcomes Manny Silva to the Board of Directors. The Board now has 10 directors and the nominating committee is currently accepting nominations for the remaining 2 Director positions.
• Director Amber Simpson was recognized for her volunteer service to SLLIS with the U.S. Bank Five Star Volunteer Award.
• The next meeting of the SLLIS Board of Directors is Thursday, July 24th at 2:00pm.