Charter Clues
Updates from IDOE's Office of Charter Schools
August 2020 Charter Clues Newsletter
Free 8-Week Course on Increasing Charter School Enrollment: 8 Seats Remaining!
Enrollment is one of the most important factors in the success of any school. Having low enrollment puts financial strain on a school and prevents it from being able to focus on delivering quality academics. The failure to sustain a consistent level of enrollment is the number one reason why a charter school fails.
The Indiana Department of Education is pleased to announce that as part of the Quality Counts Grant that they will be providing an intensive enrollment marketing course for charter schools in the state of Indiana. Completing this course will earn participants 45 PGP credits towards their teacher professional growth requirements.
Designed by our partner and enrollment marketing expert, Nick LeRoy of Bright Minds Marketing, this 8-week intensive series of lessons will help schools develop the capabilities to improve their marketing and increase student enrollment.
The course will include sessions such as:
- How to develop your school’s brand
- Building an effective enrollment process
- Maximizing the school tour
- Using digital marketing in your enrollment efforts
- How to design your school’s website to increase enrollment
- Why prospect nurturing is critical in enrollment
There are ONLY 8 seats remaining of the 20 seats in this course for the fall session.
Please click for a description of the course, A Comprehensive Approach to Driving Enrollment at Charter Schools
Please click here to submit an application(link is external) to participate in the course. Please note that submitting an application for the course does not guarantee enrollment in the course.
Visit the website for more information.
CFIG: Updated Budget Template
TAG Funding
In order to be eligible to receive TAG funding, charters and virtual charters must submit eval plans and TAG policies by September 15 (each memo has specific directions on how to do both). Without submission of both, schools are ineligible for TAG distribution. Please keep in mind the extra step of uploading into INtelligrants to initiate a distribution request. Questions may be directed to Rebecca Estes.
Curation of Re-entry Resources for Schools Now Available
The IDOE’s Office of Academics Teaching and Learning Division is proud to release this webpage, filled with resources to assist schools with re-entry, regardless of the instructional format being implemented.
SEL and Race Bibilotherapy
As school re-entry begins, please reference this resource as social-emotional learning and diversity are incorporated into K-12 classrooms. The bibliotherapy is organized by The Seven Indiana Social-Emotional Learning Competencies and books about race. Each book title has the correlating lexile band, appropriate grade level, and author. Please contact Christy Berger with any questions.
Best Practice for Instructional Re-Entry Video
Please watch this short video which provides an overview of best practices for instructional re-entry in student assessment, curriculum, instruction, and student grouping/differentiation. The video outlines the need for schools to provide all students data-driven, grade-level instruction upon re-entry and supports teachers and administrators with action steps needed for effective implementation of best practices at each stage. Find a summary of the video with this corresponding one-pager.
UPDATE: Face Covering Guidance for Parents in English and Spanish
IDOE has created this Face Coverings English language guidance and this Spanish language guidance for schools to share with families. Many schools and county health departments are recommending/requiring the use of face coverings for students and staff. This two-sided sheet provides information on acclimating students to wearing face coverings and guidance regarding face covering maintenance.
Identifying Key Contacts via the LINK Portal
IDOE is requesting all traditional publics, charter schools, and all accredited non-public schools complete the listing of Key Contacts within the LINK Portal. This can be accomplished via the Security Coordinator, who was designated by the superintendent, or the organization’s leader. IDOE encourages every Security Coordinator and organization leader to watch this training video for Security Coordinators. Read the full memo here.
2020 IDOE Legislative Updates
IDOE is continuing to provide clear and timely guidance related to bills passed during the 2020 legislative session. Find the latest releases below and a curation of all 2020 legislative guidance here.
Guidance on Senate Enrolled Act 2 – School Accountability
Please read this memo for information regarding changes to school accountability.
Invitation for Charter Schools to Share Best Practices
Are there strategies or ideas your team has been implementing well that you would like to share with other Indiana charter schools? If so, please connect with Bea Pacheco at bpacheco@doe.in.gov
2020 Census Impacts Indiana Students
The 2020 Census greatly impacts Indiana students and communities. Please continue to help us raise awareness about the census to ensure students receive the necessary federal funds for the next several years to come. IDOE has collated a list of census resources for superintendents, school leaders, families, and educators. Click here to access IDOE's 2020 Census website.
Fiscal Guidance Handbook
The IDOE Title Grants and Support team has created a Fiscal Handbook to support LEAs. It includes guidance for understanding state and federal grant requirements and grant implementation. Click here to access the Fiscal Guidance Handbook on the Title Grants landing page.
COVID-19 Communications Update
As a reminder, IDOE’s COVID-19 FAQ document is updated regularly and available here. Please contact Holly Stachler with questions.
CSP Grant Calendars
Superintendent Weekly Webinars
Dr. McCormick's weekly webinars can be found here. Please visit the site for information about upcoming webinars, directions on how to access, and to find out where to submit questions for the webinar.
Amreen Vora
317.234.3063
Beatriz Pacheco
317.232.9057
Brandon Phillips
317.232.6612
Indiana Department of Education
Website: https://www.doe.in.gov
Location: 115 West Washington Street, Indianapolis, IN, USA
Phone: (317) 232-6610