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Growth Strategy for Charter Schools
This webinar presentation discusses growth strategies for charter schools at different stages: start-up, expansion, and maturity. It outlines common challenges schools face, such as securing resources and facilities, and maintaining high performance. Best practices are presented for each stage, like focusing on data analysis and continuous professional development. The sustainable maturity phase requires focus on strategic enrollment and a data-driven culture. Schools are encouraged to leverage experts and analyze finances to understand the potential impact of growth.
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Growth Strategy for Charter Schools
- 1. Copyright © 2017Charter School Capital, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Growth Strategies for Charter Schools: Start-up, Expansion and Maturity 5/31/17 Webinar
- 2. 2 Copyright © 2017Charter School Capital, Inc. All Rights Reserved. WELCOME Kapil Mathur, Executive Director Orange County Academy of Sciences and Arts Bonnie Bensen, Chief Financial Officer Rex and Margaret Fortune School of Education Stuart Ellis President and CEO Charter School Capital
- 3. 3 Copyright © 2017Charter School Capital, Inc. All Rights Reserved. • Founded in 2016 • Initial Student Enrollment: 255 • Initial Student Waitlist: 400 • Current Student Waitlist: 200 • Initial Teachers: 10 • Current Teachers: 11 • Prop 39 site • 1 Facility • Estimated student enrollment in 5 years: 550 Orange County Academy of Sciences and Arts SCHOOL BACKGROUND
- 4. 4 Copyright © 2017Charter School Capital, Inc. All Rights Reserved. • Founded in 2010 • Initially one school in San Bernardino, CA • Opened 1 of 5 schools in Sacramento, CA in 2011 • Initial Student Enrollment: 215 • Current Student Enrollment: 1,745 • Current Number of Schools: 6 • Expanding to high school with estimated enrollment of 100 students • Partnering with Cal Ploy San Luis Obispo and Cosumnes River College allowing students to graduate with AA degree Rex and Margaret Fortune School of Education SCHOOL BACKGROUND
- 5. 5 Copyright © 2017Charter School Capital, Inc. All Rights Reserved. WHAT WE’LL COVER • Charter school growth stages • Challenges school operators face at each stage • Best practices and takeaways Agenda Presentation is available to download at CharterSchoolCapital.org/Webinars
- 6. Copyright © 2017Charter School Capital, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Stages of Growth
- 7. 7 Copyright © 2017Charter School Capital, Inc. All Rights Reserved. STAGES OF GROWTH # of Students Start-up Survival/Establish Growth Flexibility/Stability Sustainable Maturity Efficiency Time (years) 0 2-3 5-10 100% Students as a % of mature targets 10-25% 25-90% 90-100%
- 8. 8 Copyright © 2017Charter School Capital, Inc. All Rights Reserved. CHALLENGES Reasons for charter school closures 42% 24% 19% 6% 5% 4% Financial Mismanagement Academic Authorizer Obstacles Facilities Other Source: The State of Charter Schools, The Center For Education Reform, December 2011
- 9. 9 Copyright © 2017Charter School Capital, Inc. All Rights Reserved. STAGES OF GROWTH Strategic approach Start-up Growth Sustainability Financing Facilities Community involvement Academic accountability Operational support
- 10. 10 Copyright © 2017Charter School Capital, Inc. All Rights Reserved. STAGES OF GROWTH Strategic approach Start-up Growth Sustainability Financing Any liquidity Facilities In target locale Community involvement Awareness Academic accountability Establish program Operational support Outside experts
- 11. 11 Copyright © 2017Charter School Capital, Inc. All Rights Reserved. STAGES OF GROWTH Strategic approach Start-up Growth Sustainability Financing Any liquidity Flexible/scalable Facilities In target locale Modular Community involvement Awareness Fulfill the promise Academic accountability Establish program Measure program Operational support Outside experts Transitional resources
- 12. 12 Copyright © 2017Charter School Capital, Inc. All Rights Reserved. STAGES OF GROWTH Strategic approach Start-up Growth Sustainability Financing Any liquidity Flexible/scalable Cost Facilities In target locale Modular Curb appeal/cost Community involvement Awareness Fulfill the promise Fabric of community Academic accountability Establish program Measure program Continuous improvement Operational support Outside experts Transitional resources In-house team
- 13. 13 Copyright © 2017Charter School Capital, Inc. All Rights Reserved. STAGES OF GROWTH Strategic approach Start-up Growth Sustainability Financing Any liquidity Flexible/scalable Cost Facilities In target locale Modular Curb appeal/cost Community involvement Awareness Fulfill the promise Fabric of community Academic accountability Establish program Measure program Continuous improvement Operational support Outside experts Transitional resources In-house team
- 14. 14 Copyright © 2017Charter School Capital, Inc. All Rights Reserved. STAGES OF GROWTH • Different structures of working capital – Receivable sale – Term loan – Line of credit • Facilities financing options – Lease option – Bond – Traditional bank loan • Regarding costs of funds, all costs are NOT created equal – Evaluate total $ cost rather than % rate – Consider fixed transactional costs and penalties, in addition to annual rate related to costs Finance considerations
- 15. Copyright © 2017Charter School Capital, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Start-up Phase
- 16. 16 Copyright © 2017Charter School Capital, Inc. All Rights Reserved. STAGES OF GROWTH Start-up Common Misperceptions Founding team to “create” best practices “If you build it, they will come.” Strong Educational Program is only one component
- 17. 17 Copyright © 2017Charter School Capital, Inc. All Rights Reserved. STAGES OF GROWTH Start-up The Challenges Finding good leadership and teachers Securing resources Finding suitable facilities Healthy enrollment Sustaining high performance as network expands
- 18. 18 Copyright © 2017Charter School Capital, Inc. All Rights Reserved. STAGES OF GROWTH Start-up Best Practices Study and meet with schools doing things well Don’t be a master of everything. Master a few things and do them really well Build genuine and robust relationship with teachers, leaders, vendors, and external constituents Pay close attention to the budget Pay even closer attention to student progress data Do not waiver in your belief or mission
- 19. Copyright © 2017Charter School Capital, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Growth Phase
- 20. 20 Copyright © 2017Charter School Capital, Inc. All Rights Reserved. STAGES OF GROWTH Growth Common Misperceptions “After the 3rd year, all will be in place and it’s smooth sailing!” Performance and accountability requirements will be stagnant Done with professional development No need to change routines or systems We’ll have sufficient funds from operating revenue to support expansion Facility upgrades will be minimal, if at all
- 21. 21 Copyright © 2017Charter School Capital, Inc. All Rights Reserved. STAGES OF GROWTH Growth Challenges Maintaining high expectations and being flexible Maintaining your culture as you expand Retaining quality teachers and leaders Advancing levels of student performance Upgrading systems to support growth Matching capital to operational needs
- 22. 22 Copyright © 2017Charter School Capital, Inc. All Rights Reserved. STAGES OF GROWTH Growth Best Practices Build on the culture Continuous professional development and leadership training Focus on individualized instruction and data analysis Develop systems for your operations to maintain consistency and efficiency
- 23. 23 Copyright © 2017Charter School Capital, Inc. All Rights Reserved. GROWTH ESTIMATOR
- 24. 24 Copyright © 2017Charter School Capital, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Sustainable Maturity Phase
- 25. 25 Copyright © 2017Charter School Capital, Inc. All Rights Reserved. STAGES OF GROWTH Sustainable maturity Common Misperceptions The hard work is behind us Time to cash in Challenges decrease as you scale
- 26. 26 Copyright © 2017Charter School Capital, Inc. All Rights Reserved. STAGES OF GROWTH Sustainable maturity The Challenges Focus, Engage, Act Right team on the right bus in the right seats Recalibration
- 27. 27 Copyright © 2017Charter School Capital, Inc. All Rights Reserved. STAGES OF GROWTH Sustainable maturity Best Practices Strategic enrollment = Stable performance Develop data-driven culture and retain the passion that got you started Celebrate your successes and analyze your failures as strategic opportunities Develop pillars that define what you do – core strategies for your “preferred future” Assess all management systems regularly and use assessment to improve
- 28. Copyright © 2017Charter School Capital, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Recap
- 29. 29 Copyright © 2017Charter School Capital, Inc. All Rights Reserved. STAGES OF GROWTH Recap Start-up Growth Sustainability Financing Any liquidity Flexibility/scalabil ity Cost Facilities In target locale Modular Curb appeal/cost Community involvement Awareness Fulfill the promise Fabric of community Academic accountability Establish program Measure program Continuous improvement Operational support Outside experts Transitional resources In-house team
- 30. 30 Copyright © 2017Charter School Capital, Inc. All Rights Reserved. STAGES OF GROWTH • Stages in charter school lifecycle present very different challenges • Strategy and focus needs to vary significantly as you grow • Leverage experts at every stage to allow you to focus on educating kids • Financial analysis illuminates positive potential impact of growth and scale Key takeaways
- 31. Copyright © 2017Charter School Capital, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Questions? Presentation available at: CharterSchoolCapital.org/Webinars
- 32. 32 Copyright © 2017Charter School Capital, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Thank You Presentation available at: CharterSchoolCapital.org/Webinars Stuart Ellis, sellis@charterschoolcapital.org 877-272-1001 Kapil Mathur, kcmathur@ocasacharter.org Bonnie Bensen, bbensen@fortuneschool.us
Editor's Notes
- #7 STUART
- #8 STUART Start-up Fact - NC study of 70 charter schools – 87% of school failures happen in the first three years. Growth Fact – Sustainable Maturity Fact –
- #9 Charter schools are challenged in a number of operational areas. Interestingly, 42% of charter schools fail due to financial issues. Charter school capital was created for the sole purpose of funding charter schools and we believe we can play a key role is assisting charter schools to overcome many of the finance challenges they face. Although this pie charter shows distinct boundaries between many of the identified categories, we all know financial issues can contribute across the board. Specific example could be the mismanagement of funds due to the challenge associated with cash flow. Additionally, the need for funding of technology to support academic initiatives. Finally, our experience indicates that the challenges associated with facilities tends to begin in the lack of flexible financing approaches that can address the unique needs of charter schools.
- #10 STUART
- #11 STUART
- #12 STUART
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- #16 Kapil
- #20 MARSHALL
- #21 Bonnie
- #22 What are the challenges schools face during the growth phase? · Adjusting to higher expectations and new and/or changing state/sponsor accountability requirements · The ability to advance from incremental progress in student performance to higher levels of performance and expectations · Managing with limited resources and often, facing greater demands for services · Inefficient or inadequate operating and data systems (including student assessment systems) · The annual loss of high quality teachers and leaders · The ability to recruit, select and hire new teachers for schools with increasing enrollments · The lack of adequate capital for FFE, marketing and curriculum for increasing student enrollments or campuses · Inadequate funding and/or lack of quality professional development and leadership training necessary to meet new expectations, curriculum and standards. What can schools do to meet these challenges? · Build in ‘longer term’ expectations for continuous growth and development and create the right school culture from the beginning. · School Improvement plans must have a clear delineation of the multi-year goals and measures, and must include clear strategies, actions, milestones and evaluation component. · Schools and their staff must be prepared for the “roll out” of Common Core State Standards and the implications for curriculum, leader and teacher knowledge and skills, and how schools and classrooms should be organized. · Greater access to resources and expanding the learning environment via technology. · Conduct an annual “Quality Review” grounded in school standards of excellence. · Make “Capacity Building” and on-going priority (on-going training and development of school leaders and teachers, staff recruitment). · Create structures within schools that enable teachers to track their students’ progress and advance changes in practice on a routine basis. · Improved ‘assessment’ systems that provide teachers and school leaders with user friendly, real time data and information.
- #25 Bonnie
- #29 Stuart
- #30 Stuart
- #31 Stuart This presentation is available for download as well. Details on last slide.