View Resource: Recruit Charter Operators
This presentation is shared with prospective school applicants who are interested in opening schools in Washington DC. Though not specific to restart, it shows how the DC Public Charter School Board (DC PCSB) markets itself as a strong authorizer and therefore that DC is a good place to operate a public charter school.
Outcomes and Lessons Learned: Access to facilities and the option to open with a large number of students can be a deal breaker for a charter management organization (CMO) to agree to replicate their school into a new jurisdiction. Once a CMO has decided to explore opening a school in DC, we have learned that it is critical for the CMO to identify and work closely with local school champion(s) and authentically engage the local community members and families. This engagement should occur during the entire chartering process, starting prior to the application submission and continuing through the process to find a facility, recruit families and ultimately open the new school.