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September 2009

Relationships 101
The summer months present a great opportunity to reflect on past practices and re-tool those practices to ensure effectiveness, quality and appropriateness of the "services" being offered - all done in the spirit of continuous improvement. Over the summer, the National Charter Schools Institute ("Institute") did just that. In his practical handbook, Relationships 101, John C. Maxwell states in his opening sentences: "No one undertakes a journey alone. We depend upon others constantly  -- in ways both tangible and intangible " to move us toward our destination."

In the world of charter schools, we are all on a journey to improve the educational lives of the 1.4 million children attending charter public schools. We will know we have arrived when all families have equal access to these quality educational options. To ensure we arrive at our destination, we need to work together; to form relationships based upon that shared vision in lieu of creating and delivering our programs and services in a vacuum. In the spirit of advancing this cause, the Institute has been meeting with and working with folks like the Georgia Charter Schools Association, the Michigan Association of Public School Academies, Pearl Logic (cost-reduction services), the Michigan Association of Charter School Boards, the National Association of Charter School Authorizers and the Palmetto Charter Network in South Carolina, to name a few. We have also spent a considerable amount of time with our own faculty members to convey to them the importance of creating quality relationships with charter school folks "in the trenches." The Institute will continue to offer effective, definitive solutions to the charter school community without duplicating efforts of the many fine organizations that do similar work. Instead, we will commit to working together to provide twice the quality to the charter school community.

Associations with Associations
Georgia Charter School Association
The Institute is pleased to announce that the Georgia Charter School Association ("Association") recently purchased the Institute's national board policy program. For this purchase, the Association will gain access to the Institute's federal policy templates along with a federal policy matrix. The Association will, in turn, make this program available to its Georgia charter school membership. Thank you to the Association for the great work it is doing in Georgia and for its desire to enhance the quality of Georgia"s charter school community.

Please contact Angie Irwin at the Institute at 989-774-7481 or at airwin@nationalcharterschools.org if you would like to learn more about the Institute"s federal policy program.

Michigan Association of Public School Academies
The Institute has recently become a proud VIP affiliate member of MAPSA. With only 15 opportunities available and five currently filled, the Institute has become the sixth member of this VIP group. This membership will allow the Institute to share valuable information to the charter school community through MAPSA's weekly updates, posting information and updates on the "Institute" page of MAPSA's Website and communicating with affiliate groups on ways to more effectively impact Michigan's and the nation's charter school movement. We look forward to continuous and ongoing outreach and working with MAPSA in the future!

Pennywise
Pearl Logic is an Operating Services Optimization and Cost Reduction company based out of Indiana. The Institute recently joined forces with Pearl Logic to bring an operating cost reduction model to charter schools. In a least disruptive, "virtual" way, Pearl Logic will review operating expenses incurred by charter schools and offer opportunities to reduce costs. In fact, 98% of Pearl Logic's customers have realized a 20-40% reduction in operating services and infrastructure operating expenses. The most important note of this service is that the customer only pays for the service when savings are realized. In other words, the upfront financial risk to the customer is zero! If you are tired of excessive monthly expenses and would like to re-direct dollars into the classroom but, before now, have had not practical solution for doing that, please contact Angie Irwin at the Institute at 989-774-7481 or at airiwn@nationalcharterschools.org

Sharing Knowledge of Best Practices
Institute staff recently returned from Lousiana where they attended the 2nd Annual Lousiana State Charter School Conference held in New Orleans. Last year's conference attracted approximately 100 attendees; this year's conference yielded approximately 500 people! These numbers are truly indicative of the energetic, enthusiastic and passionate charter school environment created in Louisiana, generally, and New Orleans, specifically. Today, New Orleans' charter school system educates approximately 53% of the total public education population in the "Crescent City" and is expected to grow exponentially over the coming years, given the recent elimination of the charter school cap in Louisiana. This inspiring conference, which featured keynote speakers like Howard Fuller, Yvonne Chan, Matt Candler and Louisiana"s first lady, Supriya Jindal, "energized, empowered and engaged" the nation"s charter school community " a job well done by the Association.

Institute staff will also be traveling to Columbia, South Carolina, to address approximately 150 charter school folks attending the first annual charter school conference hosted by the Palmetto Charter Network, an organization focused on expanding educational opportunities for South Carolina's schoolchildren. Fred Borowski, Director of Programs/Services for the Institute, will be delivering a presentation entitled: "High Performing Schools and Quality Teaching Teams: What Does it Take to Establish Quality-Driven Teams in your Schools." With 25 plus years experience in teaching and leading in private, parochial and charter school settings, Fred is well-positioned to speak on this topic.

On October 15, 2009, Institute staff will be traveling to Missouri to participate in its 3rd Annual Charter Schools Conference held in Columbia, Missouri. The theme for Missouri's charter school conference is Building on the Promise. The Institute looks forward to strengthening its relationship with Missouri"s Charter Public School Association and learning about and sharing the great work being done in Missouri to advance public education.

Ron Palmer, Fred Borowski and Angie Irwin will also be presenting at the National Association of Charter School Authorizers' conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, on October 19, 2009. The presentation will be focused on creating early detection systems for identifying potential challenges in charter schools and the necessary components for creating those systems. Entitled, "Good to Gone versus Good to Great: A Fresh Perspective," the session promises to promote discussion surrounding proactive versus reactive leadership.

Finally, Dr. Richard Koole, an Institute faculty member, will be sharing fundraising tips and experiences at the 12th Annual Michigan Association of Public School Academies ("MAPSA") Conference on November 2, 2009. During his 25 years of experience as superintendent in California and Michigan, Dr. Koole learned the value in and necessity of raising funds for long-term sustainability. He has many practical, appropriate tools and skills to offer to the charter school community.

For information regarding any of the presentations referenced above or any programs relating to the presentations referenced above, please contact the Institute at 989-774-7481; 888-411-XCEL (9235) or airwin@nationalcharterschools.org