Dacia Toll and Doug McCurry who founded Amistad Academy Middle in New Haven, Connecticut in 1999, are a dynamic charter teacher duo who exemplify the credo that “behind every extraordinary teacher stands another extraordinary teacher.” Together they built a lasting legacy and one of the nation’s most respected charter management organizations. Years after founding Amistad Academy Middle, […]
Amazing Teachers Spotlight: LaShae Bourgeois and Shane Wood
LaShae Bourgeois and Shane Wood are a dynamic charter teacher duo who exemplify the credo that “behind every extraordinary teacher stands another extraordinary teacher.” Ask Principal Baumer what she thinks about kindergarten teachers LaShae Bourgeois and Shane Wood and she’ll say, “They embody inclusivity, rigor, and deep empathy for scholars. You should have seen their scholars’ work with Guatemalan […]
Amazing Teachers Spotlight: Abigail Grimaldi and Meredith Galloway
Abigail, a long-time teacher at Westlake Charter School (K-8), is known for being as strong of a culture builder and ambassador for “all things Westlake” as anyone within the organization. Meredith, meanwhile, is a newcomer, having recently completed her Ph.D. in education at Sacramento State and having had her doctoral thesis recognized as the most compelling […]
Amazing Teachers Spotlight: Dominique Foster and Jada Chase
Dominique Foster and Jada Chase are a dynamic charter teacher duo who exemplify the credo that “behind every extraordinary teacher stands another extraordinary teacher.” Together, they are bringing learning to life for preschoolers. Ms. Foster, the 2022 Washington DC Teacher of the Year and an early childhood specialist, and assistant teacher to Ms. Chase, started working together at Friendship […]
NOVEMBER: Educators as Trailblazers
Thirty years ago, the chartering movement unleashed the potential of bold educators nationwide, inspiring these trailblazers to create a new era of high-quality and equitable public school opportunities. Here’s a quick look at just a few of the earliest chartering leaders whose lifelong commitment to making a positive impact on public education has generated better outcomes for […]
OCTOBER: Turning a Broad Vision of Chartering into Excellent Authorizing
Thirty years ago, as the concept of chartering began to spread nationally, a new breed of public servants were born. Their role: convert the grand vision of chartering into concrete actions associated with charter school authorizing, including deciding which schools should and should not open and monitoring and evaluating performance of schools that did open. Chartering […]
SEPTEMBER: The Vision for “Chartering”
Today we associate “charter” with a particular school model. But a vision for “chartering” can be traced back tofamed civil rights lawyer, Kenneth B. Clark in 1968. Clark, deeply frustrated by the “pervasive and persistent” inability of public schools to deliver an excellent education, particularly for Black and other vulnerable students, called for an “Alternative Public School […]
Press Release: Founders Library Website Launch
The National Charter Schools Founders Library launched its new website today bringing a first-of-its-kind, free online resource of the charter schools movement and its origins to the general public. This comes in celebration of National Charter Schools Week May 9-15, 2021 and the approaching 30th anniversary of the signing of the first charter law in Minnesota on June 4, 1991.
Why Charter Schools Responded Faster to COVID-19 Transition
Why Charter Schools Responded Faster to COVID-19 Transition Written by Don Cooper and Ember Reichgott Junge Public education has been forced by the COVID-19 pandemic to rapidly transform. Simply put, formal rules and professional norms around teaching and learning no longer apply. How educators respond to this challenge impacts all of us. Public education is […]
Will presidential candidates learn lessons from New Hampshire on public school choice?
Written by Ember Reichgott Junge All eyes are on New Hampshire for the Democratic presidential race. As the candidates barnstorm the state, I wonder how they would answer this question: Would you agree with New Hampshire Democratic lawmakers who recently voted to reject $46 million in federal funding over five years to the New […]