It's that time of year when administrators are returning to their school buildings and staff members will soon begin "pre-service" training. Most school buildings have undergone a major cleaning to welcome back staff and begin the process of preparing for the first day of the new school year.
It's not too late for parents who want their child/ren to attend a charter school to contact the school to see if there are any openings. All the charter schools in Colorado are online here. Because charter schools use a variety of enrollment methods, it's best to contact the school directly.
There are several school supply drives at this time of year. Everyone who doesn't have to pay for their own child/ren's school supplies, should consider donating to one of these community drives. It's also a good time for caring adults to consider tutoring a child throughout the school year.
Personally, I like donating in a more personal way. Consider asking a school principal what he/she would really like to do for his/her students, but doesn't have the resources for. Or consider adopting a classroom of students by sponsoring their classroom parties, donating reading books or any number of other personalized ideas.
During the frenzy of back-to-school shopping and activities, remember the real reason to invest in our schools: the students! Get to know some of these students and it'll not only change your own life--it justmay change theirs, as well!
Monday, July 25, 2011
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Why a Job Description is Critical for a Charter School Administrator
Charter school leaders, rarely comfortable being put in a box, use a variety of titles for their number one administrator: Head of School, Principal, Executive Director, and Director are just a few. For this post, I'll use the term "Principal" to talk about the lead administrator.
Charter schools use a variety of structures to meet the school's administrative needs. Some charter school governing boards have one person report to the board (considered a best practice) and some have two or more. This means that unless there are clear job descriptions, it's difficult, and sometimes impossible, for administrators to know what is their responsibility.
This is also true when the charter school governing board has a very involved President. Having a board member do some of the functions commonly delegated to the Principal presents problems. Once the Principal's job description is established, and a Principal is hired, there shouldn't be any deviation from that outline of responsibilities. If a board member temporarily assists the Principal with a responsibility, it should be clear to all involved that the board member is doing it as a "volunteer" without board authority to lead or make decisions.
Many administrators are wary of charter school governing boards, especially when they don't have processes and policies established such as the job description, Principal evaluation form, and Principal evaluation policy. Not having these things appropriately documented shows potential Principal candidates that the board hasn't reached a level of capacity to successfully lead a charter school. Since it's hard to find a really good Principal, boards that fail to develop processes and policies are often left with less-than-ideal Principal candidates.
It's common for there to be confusion about what is the Principal's role versus the governing board's role. Here is a worksheet to discuss the various responsibilities and note who is responsible. Having roles clearly defined, and documented, is a way to mitigate potential conflicts or miscommunication.
Because charter schools are so unique and utilize a variety of organizational structures, school leaders need to take the precaution of documenting as much as possible before the first Principal is hired.
Charter schools use a variety of structures to meet the school's administrative needs. Some charter school governing boards have one person report to the board (considered a best practice) and some have two or more. This means that unless there are clear job descriptions, it's difficult, and sometimes impossible, for administrators to know what is their responsibility.
This is also true when the charter school governing board has a very involved President. Having a board member do some of the functions commonly delegated to the Principal presents problems. Once the Principal's job description is established, and a Principal is hired, there shouldn't be any deviation from that outline of responsibilities. If a board member temporarily assists the Principal with a responsibility, it should be clear to all involved that the board member is doing it as a "volunteer" without board authority to lead or make decisions.
Many administrators are wary of charter school governing boards, especially when they don't have processes and policies established such as the job description, Principal evaluation form, and Principal evaluation policy. Not having these things appropriately documented shows potential Principal candidates that the board hasn't reached a level of capacity to successfully lead a charter school. Since it's hard to find a really good Principal, boards that fail to develop processes and policies are often left with less-than-ideal Principal candidates.
It's common for there to be confusion about what is the Principal's role versus the governing board's role. Here is a worksheet to discuss the various responsibilities and note who is responsible. Having roles clearly defined, and documented, is a way to mitigate potential conflicts or miscommunication.
Because charter schools are so unique and utilize a variety of organizational structures, school leaders need to take the precaution of documenting as much as possible before the first Principal is hired.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
HB 1412 Committee Wraps Up Its Work
The HB 1412 committee to recommend charter school and charter school authorizer standards wrapped up its work today by holding a public comment session and finalizing its draft report. Minor changes were made to the draft that had been widely circulated for public comment.
The final report now gets professionally formatted and then provided to the House and Senate Education committee members and the State Board of Education members by the August 1 deadline established in the legislation that created the committee.
The State Board is required to adopt rules for these charter school and charter school authorizer standards. For the authorizer standards, the committee adopted by reference the National Association of Charter School Authorizer (NACSA) standards. The committee recommended standards for charter schools in regard to executive compensation, nondiscrimination and conflicts of interest plus recognized processes already in place such as the Charter School Support Initiative process for school reform.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Light Blogging Ahead
I won't be posting very much in the next few weeks. I hope you are enjoying your summer!
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Where the Charter School Board Should Focus
Most charter school governing boards spend the bulk of their meeting time discussing budgets, facilities, logistics and policies--the "business" side of a charter school. But the focus should be on student academic achievement. A good barometer for how well a governing board is doing with implementing its vision and mission is to consider how much meeting time it focuses on student achievement.
Oftentimes a governing board will be focused on the immediate needs of a charter school such as calming parent concerns or addressing facility limitations. But the most important reason to have a charter school is to make sure students are learning and able to move to the next grade level or graduate with the skills and knowledge necessary for a successful future.
Almost all of Colorado's charter schools have student academic achievement in their vision and mission statements. However, the amount of time boards spend on discussing or implementing this aspect of the school's purpose can vary significantly.
At each year's strategic planning session, the entire board should discuss the vision and mission statements. Each board member could talk about what word or phrase stands out to them the most and why. Each board member should explain what their personal vision is for the school and how it does or doesn't match with the school's vision statement. Another useful approach is to have the board distill the vision statement down to a slogan or phrase that best describes their school. For example, some schools use the slogan, "First Comes Learning" to communicate the school's primary purpose and to use as a filter for all decision-making.
It's wise for charter school board members to periodically reflect on what unspoken messages they're sending to school staff and stakeholders. If verbally board members say they prioritize academics as number one, but then don't reflect that in their work, it means little.
Oftentimes a governing board will be focused on the immediate needs of a charter school such as calming parent concerns or addressing facility limitations. But the most important reason to have a charter school is to make sure students are learning and able to move to the next grade level or graduate with the skills and knowledge necessary for a successful future.
Almost all of Colorado's charter schools have student academic achievement in their vision and mission statements. However, the amount of time boards spend on discussing or implementing this aspect of the school's purpose can vary significantly.
At each year's strategic planning session, the entire board should discuss the vision and mission statements. Each board member could talk about what word or phrase stands out to them the most and why. Each board member should explain what their personal vision is for the school and how it does or doesn't match with the school's vision statement. Another useful approach is to have the board distill the vision statement down to a slogan or phrase that best describes their school. For example, some schools use the slogan, "First Comes Learning" to communicate the school's primary purpose and to use as a filter for all decision-making.
It's wise for charter school board members to periodically reflect on what unspoken messages they're sending to school staff and stakeholders. If verbally board members say they prioritize academics as number one, but then don't reflect that in their work, it means little.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Denver Justice: A Charter School to be Proud Of
Denver Justice Charter School is led by two men who personify what a great school is about. Gary Losh is the Principal and Jimmy Monaghan is the Asst. Principal. Both will go to whatever length necessary for their students. For them, school is more than a job--it's a passion.
In the several times I've been at the school I've observed Gary taking students to court appointments, Jimmy getting students back into class and both of them going the extra mile with their students. Both men talk about their students in a way that shows they have the belief that these students can make it to be successful--if they will just try.
Denver Justice recently graduated a class of 12, many of whom had difficulties in reaching graduation day. The school is small, which allows for all students to be known as individuals.
Denver Justice is at I-70 and Shoshone St. in Denver and just completed its second year of operation. Denver Justice is modeled after Boulder Justice, which has been open since 2006. Both schools focus on serving adjudicated and high-risk students.
In the several times I've been at the school I've observed Gary taking students to court appointments, Jimmy getting students back into class and both of them going the extra mile with their students. Both men talk about their students in a way that shows they have the belief that these students can make it to be successful--if they will just try.
Denver Justice recently graduated a class of 12, many of whom had difficulties in reaching graduation day. The school is small, which allows for all students to be known as individuals.
Denver Justice is at I-70 and Shoshone St. in Denver and just completed its second year of operation. Denver Justice is modeled after Boulder Justice, which has been open since 2006. Both schools focus on serving adjudicated and high-risk students.
Friday, June 10, 2011
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