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.

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.