School Operations
Resources and guidance to help charter schools run smoothly and safely
What We Offer
Value of partnership
“The value of the partnership we’ve built with the Charter Support Unit team is immeasurable. They provided guidance and walk each school through the exhaustive foundation-building process to a successful first day of school. Through our partnership, we have developed tools and resources for new schools to utilize. We plan on exploring more opportunities to collaborate. I know they’re just a phone call away. “
– Nadia Luna, VP of Member Services
Texas Public Charter Schools Association
Resources & Templates
From checklists for new schools to sample policy manuals, employment contracts and
forms for parents, the CSU’s library contains invaluable resources to help you run your school. Topics for operations professionals include campus safety, student health, family engagement, nutrition program compliance, marketing, technology and cybersecurity — and much more.
Webinars
Aired live weekly, and archived for viewing anytime, the CSU’s webinar series brings expertise from all over the country to bear on common challenges for charter school operators.
Consultations
Have an operations issue that would benefit from an outside perspective, or would you simply like feedback on how you might move your school to the next level? CSU consultants are available to meet with school leaders and boards to work through your school’s particular challenges or to help you advance your mission in new ways.
Document Review
For schools in their first charter contract, we review operating documents at no cost to schools to provide feedback or suggestions. Whether you are developing an employee handbook, a parent guide, employment documents or forms for your staff, we’re here to help.
Budget Templates
Many schools and districts have long utilized the Budget Template tool available from the Charter Support Unit. We will continue to support and expand upon the existing tool. In addition, we will be creating additional templates and tools to help existing schools with developing future budgets, and to assist schools during their launch year with projecting actual expenses and budgets through the school opening. Watch for more later in the year.
Charters.Link (Florida)
For Florida charter schools and authorizers, this online monitoring tool helps ensure compliance with all of the documents and deliverables that schools are required to provide to their authorizing district throughout the year.
School Operations
Trainings, Webinars, Sample Documents, Resources, and more…
- How to Pitch Your School and Stories to the News Media
March 10, 2021
This session will provide practical tips on promoting your school, staff and students to the media from John Boyd, a former reporter and editor for the Houston Chronicle, Des Moines Register, and others, who now works as a school PR leader for one of T …
Read more - Avoiding Chaos: Leadership Development and Succession Planning
March 10, 2021
The charter school movement started over 20 years ago and organizations that were new and novel are now mature and possibly in transition. As these organizations grow from founder lead to management lead, they may experience growing pains and challeng …
Read more - Respiratory Health and School Safety: What We’ve Learned from COVID-19
March 10, 2021
Now that we have stepped into the world of the “new normal” for charter schools following the 2020 pandemic, there are many lessons learned and ideas to share in these challenging times for everyone involved. Building Solutions and dozens of school fac …
Read more - If You Build It, They Will Come. Restorative Justice in Charter Schools
March 10, 2021
Restorative Justice is quickly becoming the process to implement in making schools a better, safer place for students and staff. There are practices that campus leaders can explore to help build an environment to which individuals will gravitate. If yo …
Read more - E-Rate Overview and Updates for 2020-21
March 10, 2021
E-Rate is a federal program schools can take advantage to help pay for Internet access and network equipment. While this is a free resources for schools, many find the E-Rate program intimidating, time consuming and confusing. This webinar will provide …
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